In Tune
by Z98
Summary: Time is immutable and past sins cannot be undone. It is too late for Asuka Soryu, too late for Shinji Rokubungi, too late for Yui Ichijo. Yet hope is not entirely lost for it is not too late for Asuka Langley Shikinami, for Shinji Ikari, for Rei Ayanami, for their time is only just beginning. And into that time steps those who seek redemption from their sins by forging a new dawn.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: At first glance it might appear that this story has a large number of original characters. In point of fact almost every character with a first and last name given are from the EVA franchise. If you do not care about being spoiled, you can go to the character list in the author notes of Epilogue Delta to see who is who.  
**

Prologue: Prelude

Generalmajor Margaret Klinge was widely respected as a dedicated, disciplined, and demanding woman to work for. This in many ways made her the perfect woman to lead Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst, its foreign intelligence agency. The BND had evolved considerably since Second Impact, transforming more and more into a branch of the military than a predominantly civilian service. That transformation was not without its critics, but due to General Klinge's demonstrated competence the only arguments they could bring to bear were theoretical ones about the necessity of civilian control over the military. In the chaos of the post-Second Impact world, those arguments were less convincing than they might have been in a more peaceful time. And it was hard to argue with results seeing as the BND under Klinge detected and then thwarted numerous threats to the Fatherland and its allies as the world slowly recovered. Little wonder then that she was often referred to as the 'Iron Lady,' sometimes affectionately and sometimes in exasperation. For if there was one absolute truth about Klinge, it was that her will was indomitable and more than one politician or bureaucrat had made the mistake of underestimating her determination or overestimating their own relative importance.

For all that though, Klinge did have another nickname, one that few ever dared to say to her face. The cause of this nickname was no great mystery, though it was a source of some wonder amongst her subordinates and associates. For General Klinge was not only competent and controlled, she also likely consumed each day enough alcohol to kill a normal human. And while 'Liver of Steel' was not quite as endearing as her other nickname, it was in many ways even truer. How the general remained completely sober was another mystery to her staff for never had they seen so much as a shaking hand or a single slurred word in her crisp and precise German. But being Germans as they were, having a boss that could outdrink every single one of them combined was certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Especially when, despite her high expectations, General Klinge gave as much as she demanded. While she had never married, the men and women that made up the BND were more than willing to think of themselves as much as her sons and daughters as that of their biological parents.

Of these surrogate children, there were a select few that could get away with a modicum of affectionate disrespect for their commanding officer. Two such individuals were seated before her now in one of the 'black' offices the BND maintained for conversations that not only had to be kept off the record but completely and utterly nonexistent as far as the rest of the world was concerned. Hence why officially Klinge was in a meeting with her department heads, the younger woman present was officially working through a logistics snafu for materials destined for NERV-Tokyo, and the man here officially on his way to a practice with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Of the three technically the man was on the tightest timeline as there was no way to hide his absence from members of the public if he failed to show for the rehearsal, but no one here had much time to waste.

"The contract with NERV-Tokyo's gone through," the younger woman said. "Both contracts, actually. I'll be heading to Tokyo-3 next week and Soren'll follow the following week."

Klinge nodded and regarded the man referred to as Soren. It was his real name, or 'real' in the sense that all of his documentation stated it to be and had done so since his life began. Just as that of the other woman and Klinge's own.

"Here's hoping the Tokyo Philharmonic still exists after next week," Klinge said. "A shame we couldn't get you over there sooner."

Soren tilted his head, about as much of a physical reaction as he was likely to ever give. "The timing is unfortunate, but Amanda should be able to handle the situation. Assuming NERV does not suspect anything, we should be able to proceed."

"Good," Klinge nodded. "Movement of the rest of our assets are also on schedule so you should get some more support quickly. With any luck we can start reducing casualties from the get-go."

Amanda frowned, not of disagreement but of concern. "I'll do what I can, but we both know our projected rate of success is 10% under expected conditions."

"If I am in position, the projection is upwards of 70%," Soren said flatly. "While we have no room for slippage, so long as the Angels remain on schedule we should be fine."

Klinge sighed and sank into her chair. "There've been enough permutations already that we can't be entirely sure of anything. If we're lucky, our disruptions have been minimal enough to not affect the original timetable. Once we start intervening directly however, all bets are off."

"That's kind of the point," Amanda stated. "The only way to effect change is to disrupt the original scenario. Beyond our immediate actions however we cannot guarantee any specific consequences."

"The intended effects are achievable," Soren said again in a matter-of-fact tone. "By the time we are done, I expect quite a few people will be, displeased, with us."

Amanda and Klinge both snorted at the understatement.

"Well, I suppose at this point all I can do is have a little faith," Klinge said. She stood, picking up her glass of scotch. "Amanda, Soren."

The other two did likewise and raised their glasses in response.

"To a new dawn. And see you on the other side."

The three drank to that toast and set down their glasses. The younger pair made their leave first and Klinge watched them go, smiling slightly as Amanda looped her arm with Soren's. That was a sight she would never grow tired of. Maybe this time around, it would start happening much, much earlier.

* * *

Lieutenant-Colonel Midori Kayabuki was in a foul mood. Bad enough that the JSSDF forces were being thrown fruitlessly at the approaching monstrosity, the generals were obviously too pigheaded and stubborn to know when to quit. They had expended probably the entire year's defense budget lobbing missiles, bombs, and shells at the thing and nothing had so much as fazed it. Her own unit had been able to keep out of the thing's way, if only because not even the brass was stupid enough to think that a single mechanized infantry battalion could make a difference when their opponent had basically laughed off the efforts of an entire armored division and its air support elements.

"Colonel, the target's made landfall," Lieutenant Kudo reported.

Kayabuki nodded, not that she really needed to be told. Looking through her binoculars, she was greeted with quite the lightshow as the military continued to pound away.

"Any new orders, ma'am?"

"No," Kayabuki said. "We'll remain here."

"But ma'am, if we don't-"

"If we don't what? Or did you see something besides us wasting a couple billion yens' worth of ordnance?"

"Uh, well ma'am…"

"If our orders change we'll try to carry them out," Kayabuki said. "But until then we'll hold position and not try to play hero and get a lot of people killed for nothing. We're soldiers, Kudo, not undisciplined kids."

"Y-yes ma'am."

"Besides," Kayabuki said as she looked back into her binoculars. "I'm pretty sure dealing with this particular monster's way above our paygrades."

Kayabuki was just in time to see the VTOLs flittering around the Angel suddenly disperse. She reacted instinctively.

"Button down! Prepare for detonation!"

* * *

"It shows up now, of all the times," Misato complained. "Geez…"

"I wonder if it's karma," the woman seated next to her in the car said.

"Oh hush you," Misato said. "Remember you're the one that wanted to ride shotgun here."

Amanda chuckled and looked out the window. The area they were driving through had yet to be reclaimed and so ruined buildings were a dime a dozen. Still the road was paved at least, though how long that would remain the case was an open question if the increasingly deafening scream of engines was any indication. Then the explosions let loose and the car began to shake.

"Not good!" Misato cried out and gunned the engine. "Damn it, where is he!?"

Amanda was searching as frantically, praying that they had not diverged already. And then she caught sight of a lone figure on the streets, frozen in fear at the chaos erupting around him.

"There!" she shouted even as Misato spun the car around, having caught the same sight.

The Alpine A310 was a sports car and its performance lived up to that label. It almost flew across the asphalt and skid to a stop with a sharp turn right before the boy. Amanda threw open the door.

"Get in!" the brunette shouted.

The boy pulled himself up but seemed to hesitate with the lack of an open seat. Scowling, Amanda grabbed hold of him and hauled the boy into his lap before slamming the door shut.

"Go!"

Misato wasted no time gunning the engine, making their escape with all due haste. The boy seemed a bit dazed but as he began to realize just why the current padding he rested on was so 'soft' his face flushed a bright scarlet.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Oh calm down," Amanda not quite snapped. "What is it with you Japanese and your rigid politeness? If you hadn't noticed, we've got more important things to worry about!"

"S-sorry."

Amanda rubbed her temples in abject frustration and despite herself Misato could not help but laugh. Sure they were running for their lives from a giant monster, but the disparate reactions to stress of her passengers was just too much. People were if nothing else quite diverse.

"Ah don't worry about it, Ikari Shinji-kun," Misato said. "You'll get used to her."

They were now some distance from the fighting, the Angel having made another leap to momentarily shake the irritants nipping at it with their puny guns. Apparently deciding they were clear for the moment, Misato began slowing down.

"Keep going!" Amanda suddenly shouted.

"What?"

"Don't stop! Get us behind that ridge now!"

Not sure what her friend was going on about but trusting her instincts, Misato spun the car behind the hill before braking hard. The moment the car stopped Amanda pushed all of them down. The next, a massive boom ripped through the air and the car was buffeted by a fierce shockwave. Even with their eyes closed, an unbearable light flooded their sight. For what seemed an eternity, it was hard to know if they were even still alive as the light and sound overwhelmed their senses.

* * *

"Well that sucked." Amanda was the first to speak. "We all still alive?"

"I think so," Misato said. "What about you, Shinji-kun?"

"Umm, yes. Thank you, Katsuragi-san, and umm, miss."

Misato chuckled as she leaned against the steering wheel. "No need to be so formal, Misato is just fine. And the lady you're sharing body heat with there is Amanda Sommer."

Shinji's face flushed red once more but before he could apologize Amanda cut in.

"Yes, yes, you know all about sharing body heat with the opposite gender Misato," Amanda retorted. "Mr. Ikari, if you wouldn't mind, could you get in the back? Or at least get up and let me move there."

"Oh! Yes, of course."

Shinji moved with all due haste and let out a sigh of relief once he had a seat of his own. Misato chuckled even while giving Amanda a look to let her friend know she would be getting her back for the remark. And then a thought seemed to occur to her.

"Say, how'd you know about the explosion?" Misato asked his friend.

Amanda snorted. "When your own side decides to get the hell out of an area, it's a pretty safe bet they're about to drop a really big bomb there."

Apparently satisfied, Misato nodded. "Alright, let's get to HQ. That N2 warhead might have bought us some time, but let's not push our luck."

With that Misato fired up the car once more and got them on their way. Amanda glanced at the now very misaligned side view mirror and caught sight of Shinji in the reflection. The boy looked unsure of himself, sneaking glances at the two women in front of him. He was obviously feeling out of his depth much as his father intended. Amanda grimaced. Well, if she had anything to say about it the backbone she knew Shinji had would be making itself more known soon enough.

* * *

Soren walked through the hallway, easily avoiding the few police out doing their duty trying to make sure everyone was evacuated. Night had fallen and the Angel was once more advancing into the city. If things were still on schedule, Unit 01 would be deploying within the next few minutes and Shinji Ikari would make his disastrous debut as an EVA pilot. That debut would be life changing for quite a few people, not least the two people still in this apartment complex. Even now he could hear the distinct sniffling of someone trying to hold back tears. Stopping before the door, Soren knocked.

The sniffling went silent as if nothing had been there, but Soren was not fooled. There were two distinct AT signals in there, after all. Soren knocked again, not that he was expecting a response. Thus it was to his pleasant surprise that the door did open and a boy in a tracksuit appeared. Soren was struck by a faint hint of nostalgia as he looked at the boy and his face almost slipped into a smile. Almost, but Soren had not spent the last decade or so learning to maintain his composure for naught. The boy on the other hand looked at him suspiciously, obviously unsure what to make of this foreign stranger knocking at his door at a time like this.

"Excuse me," the boy said, "but what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you much the same," Soren said in perfect Japanese. "It is my understanding there is an evacuation order."

"Yeah," the boy said. "So why ain't you evacuated?"

This time Soren did smile, not from loss of control but because he felt he could show at least that much humanity to the boy. "My wife has not returned yet. I can't very well leave without her."

The boy looked at him in surprise before cracking a small grin of his own and nodding. "My lil sis is sick. Can't really move her by myself."

Soren frowned. He knew the details of course, but that did not make him any happier.

"May I be of some help? At the least the two of you should get down to the shelters."

"Oh uh, that's okay, I mean-"

The world seemed to be thrown upside down as the two were thrown off their feet. Soren recovered more quickly, looking out the window to see Unit 01 outside. Instead of lying there letting the Angel beat on him however, Shinji had slammed his EVA into the monster. That had pushed the fight away from the apartment complex, which bought them a little bit of time. It would have to be enough.

"Where's your sister?" Soren snapped.

The boy pulled himself up and jerked his head back inside. "Bedroom."

Soren wasted little time, bursting in and finding the little girl curled up in her bed. Without giving her a chance to react, he picked her up and hauled her out into the halls.

"Let's go," he said.

Suzuhara Sakura looked about in a panic before catching sight of her brother.

"Nii-san!"

"It's alright," Toji assured her. "He's here to help."

Sakura stopped struggling, instead tightening her hold on Soren. Nevertheless her gaze remained on her big brother, seeking assurances that everything would be alright. Toji offered her a smile even as they ran and eventually Sakura returned it.

The three had made it out of the apartment and Soren quickly caught sight of a shelter entrance. He began toward it when Sakura began struggling again.

"Nii-san!"

Halting abruptly, Soren turned around and saw the boy staring at the carnage before them. Unit 01 had torn off the Angel's arm and blood rained down upon the cityscape. Even now the EVA was busy smashing away at its opponent, raining blow after blow onto the red core.

"Boy!" Soren shouted, shaking Toji out of his shock.

Toji scrambled after them, but his lapse had cost them dearly. The Angel suddenly jerked up and wrapped itself around the EVA. Soren cursed. They were out of time. Hugging Sakura tightly against his chest, he raised his free hand. And then the world disappeared in a bright flash.

* * *

Shinji's eyes snapped open, his mind a flurry of panic and confusion even as his heartbeat continued on a steady and measured tempo. The tiled ceiling was a sterile white, not helped by the harsh fluorescent lighting that blanketed the room. Rising slowly, Shinji noticed the IV in his arm. Deciding it was best not to try pulling it out himself, he simply sat there trying to gather his thoughts. He had a vague idea of why he was in this place, presumably a hospital. He had fought in a battle, piloting for the first time some giant robot. That he was still alive suggested he won, though how was still fuzzy. But despite the haziness of his memories, one thing did cut straight through, the words that Misato's foreign friend said to him before he climbed into the EVA.

"You can fight because you don't want to get hurt, or you can fight because you don't want others to be hurt. The choice is yours, Ikari Shinji, and I think you know which one you've already made. Just never forget that."

Had he made a choice? Perhaps he had, Shinji conceded. After all, how could he not after holding that bleeding girl in his arms. Looking at his hands, Shinji cringed. Just what kind of monster was his father that he would send someone so hurt out into battle? And just what was the approval of such a man worth? Shinji shook his head. It hurt from trying to think about all this and he had yet to find any answers in his headache. It felt as if he would never untie the thorny knot of emotions that tore at him. If only someone else could do it for him.

* * *

"He's an idiot."

Misato looked up at the seemingly sullen woman in her office and smirked.

"Talking about your beloved husband again?"

There was something almost endearing about the way Amanda Sommer-Reimer was ever so willing to lay out her husband's faults and flaws in blunt and direct ways. The frequency in which she did so tended to increase exponentially when he was physically present, but the other German remained as aloof as ever even when his wife was badmouthing him. The real entertainment however came in when he decided to snark back at her, still in that trademark aloof manner, and Amanda's exaggerated reactions were always good fun to watch.

Amanda snorted. "That's a given. No, I'm talking about that retarded man-child of a commander of yours."

The smirk disappeared to be replaced with a frown as Misato regarded her friend.

"May I, ah, assume that your report will include a similar such conclusion, albeit worded a bit more tactfully?"

"You may," Amanda said, dropping her legs from the other chair she was resting them on and sitting up to face Misato. "As the duly appointed UN Auditor-General for NERV-Tokyo, it's my job to make sure that NERV is doing its job to the best of its abilities. That includes the most effective use of its personnel resources, and if I'm not mistaken then Shinji Ikari will be a most important resource."

"He's a person, not a resource," Misato said somewhat defensively.

"I know," Amanda said. "Which brings us back to my original comment."

Amanda stared levelly at Misato and the other woman could not help but look away. Her friend had a point, both spoken and unspoken. While the commander had not exactly conducted himself in the best light, Misato's own actions towards Shinji were hard to defend as well. After all, there was no getting around the fact that they had harangued a 14 year old boy into fighting a multi-story tall monster, that they would likely need to do it again, and if he ever chose not to fight humanity was well and truly screwed. And as Amanda was making clear, it was as much her job to make sure such eventualities did not happen as it was Misato's.

Due to the turmoil of the post-Second Impact world, the UN had been forced to deal with a variety of minor crises and bushfires on a nearly continuous basis. It quickly learned that nipping problems in the bud was a much better long term strategy than letting problems simmer until they exploded into some large scale disaster. To that end the UN began employing dedicated troubleshooters, who generally fell into two categories. Auditors like one Amanda Sommer were generally fixed assignment officers, stationed in one place for a long period of time to monitor the day-to-day situation and deal with any problems that cropped up. Inspectors like a certain ex that shall not be named generally only showed up if there was an imminent crisis or upon the request of an auditor if said auditor felt outside support was needed.

Amanda had served as auditor-general for NERV-Berlin for five years before her reassignment to NERV-Tokyo and her tenure there was actually fondly looked upon by the Berlin staff. Sure Amanda had been an outsider, an interloper sent to breathe down their necks to make sure they were doing their job, but Amanda had proven them wrong. She had basically adopted the staff as her own, looking out for their best interests not only as members of NERV but also as people. This had eventually resulted in a hilarious confrontation between herself and another UN oversight official over the matter of maternity leave and day-care services, a confrontation that Amanda had won without even needing to put the man in the hospital for blood lose, solidly putting all the women of NERV-Berlin in her camp. That meant that the staff was all the more willing to go to her if there were problems and by the time of Amanda's reassignment NERV-Berlin had one of the highest efficiency and morale ratings of any of the NERV branches, much to the chagrin of NERV-Tokyo's previous auditor, Misato knew.

Now that Amanda was here, Misato did not doubt her friend would be applying her considerable energies towards rectifying any similar problems she might come upon. If Amanda really did decide that one Gendo Ikari was one such problem, things could get very sticky.

"Amanda, I know the commander didn't give you a very good first impression," Misato began, "but he is the commander and there is a method to his madness."

Amanda gave Misato a deadpan look.

"Maybe," Misato conceded.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but did the commander not send out a completely untrained and untested pilot against an Angel?" Amanda began. "Despite the fact that we have two trained pilots in Germany and another in America? Any three of whom we could have gotten on a supersonic jet to get them to Tokyo-3 within an hour and deployed in Unit 01."

"Yes," Misato tiredly agreed.

"And then there's his method of motivating Shinji, or I suppose his complete lack of attempt at it."

Again Misato nodded, not finding anything she could disagree with in her friend's statement.

Amanda sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what the hell that asshole's trying to do, but if the intent is to actually use Shinji as an actual pilot, then the commander did went out of his way to do everything wrong. Shinji should have been brought in weeks ago, given some time to actually acclimate to being a pilot and at least given some rudimentary combat training. The only thing throwing him to the wolves like that should have accomplished is gotten the boy killed."

"But he wasn't killed," Misato pointed out. "He won."

"Unit 01 won," Amanda countered. "We were both there on the bridge and you don't seriously believe that Shinji was the one going on a wild rampage ripping the Angel to pieces?"

Reluctantly Misato shook her head.

"What I thought. We got lucky this time, but if NERV's only game plan is to rely on luck then it's not doing its job at all."

"So what do you plan to do about it?" Misato asked.

"Nothing immediate beyond filing a report ripping Gendo a new one," Amanda said. "Right now though our problem is Shinji. He's the only person physically able to pilot right now and if another Angel shows up before we can transfer the Second or Fourth, he needs to be ready."

"Sounds fair," said Misato. "Assuming he's willing to continue piloting."

"That's your job," Amanda said. "Though even assuming he does, he's an emotional trainwreck. I'll need to assign him a few therapy sessions at the very least if he stays."

"That, might actually not be a bad idea," Misato said.

The phone rang before Amanda could reply and Misato quickly picked it up to make sure her friend did not get a chance.

"Yes? Alright, understood." She stood and hung up. "Shinji-kun's awake."

Amanda nodded but made no move. "Then you better go check up on him."

"Coming?"

A shake of the head. "I've still got some paperwork to deal with after that last battle. And something tells me that you're the one that really should be looking out for him, Hauptmann Misato Katsuragi."

* * *

The hospital was mostly quite beyond a few random PA calls for some doctor or another. Shinji looked out the window into the Geofront, not really seeing anything but just letting his senses wander. The rustling of wheels caught his attention and he turned about to see a gurney roll past. There lay the blue-haired girl that he had met before getting into the EVA, bandages still covering much of her body. The two locked eyes as she was wheeled past and Shinji somehow managed to resist the urge to look away. He had gotten into the EVA because she could not. He had gotten hurt because she was already hurt. That foreign woman's words echoed in his mind over and over again as his fist tightened. Thus he stayed until Misato made her appearance.

"Shinji-kun."

The voice was almost gentle and the concern Shinji saw on her face looked quite genuine.

"Katsuragi-san."

A playful bop descended on his head. "That's Misato, remember?"

"Ow. Uh right, Misato-san."

"How are you feeling?"

"Umm, okay I guess. I don't remember much."

"That's alright, it'll come back eventually," Misato said reassuringly. "C'mon, let's get you checked out. I'm sure you're eager to get out of here."

Shinji simply nodded and followed the older woman back to his room. After a few minutes changing into clean clothes and Misato signing some paperwork, the two headed for the exit elevator. When it opened however, neither moved. Before the two stood Gendo Ikari, commander of NERV and Shinji's father. The teen flinched and felt his body tense up. Almost reflexively his gaze started tearing away, but something forced him to hold his father's gaze. The man's eyes were cold, hard, and with absolutely no remorse or concern. Shinji found his own growing harder with every passing second. Then, Gendo blinked. Shinji's eyes flickered in surprise but before anything could be said or done the elevator doors closed once more. As he stood there bewildered, Shinji did not notice Misato gazing at him, concern once more etched across her own face. Things were just getting started after all.

End Prologue

By all rights I really should not be starting this project while Darkness Risen is still unfinished. The problem of course is that I have a problematic writer's block for that story. I know what needs to happen within the next two/three chapters that I expect will end that story, but I just haven't been able to write any scenes. And so this story is basically me venting and giving my creative energy an outlet.

In Tune can actually be considered a major reworking and expansion of one of my much earlier pieces, one that never truly developed. For this one however I have a fairly concrete idea of where I want it to go. I think the basic premise will be obvious to most fans of the EVA fandom, along with what 'type' of EVA fic this is. And if it is not blindingly obvious already, only one 'named' character in this story can actually be considered a completely 'new' character to the EVA universe. I'll let all of you figure out who's who. And yes, quite a few other characters will be getting 'reintroduced' as well.

Ultimately I'm not going to try to make this a big mystery per se, there will be parts that are vague and are foreshadow, but I generally find it more interesting to just write the interactions of characters and reflections of their inner thoughts. This is why I've created the particular setup I have here. So for the most part, quite a few of the background items should be easily guessable, or I think so at least. Either way, I hope you all enjoy this first bit. I make no promises about rate of updates, though chapter 1 already has about 1500 words/3.5 pages written. Prologue is about 4600 words. I'll let you all extrapolate.

Mandatory Disclaimer: I don't own EVA, though if I did I'd have gotten the last damn movie out already. And paid for more readable fonts than what they're using for subs in the official BD releases.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Exposition

The representative sent by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra had wasted a good ten minutes or so apologizing to Soren for his getting caught in the battle with Sachiel. It was here that Soren's reputed aloofness became something of a boon as the German could react in a somewhat disinterested manner to all the apologies and not appear to be insulting the poor man sent to meet him, or rather insult him any more than Soren seemingly insulted everyone else he interacted with. Right now however he just wanted out of the hospital seeing as there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. Toji was likely feeling equally restless, though his sister really did need to stay a bit longer. Pneumonia was not something to joke about for a child her age.

"-and of course we'll compensate you for any inconvenience caused by your needing to find a new place to live."

"That'll be fine," Soren said. "I believe my wife has made new arrangements already."

"Oh? That is most excellent. Um, now as for the rehearsal schedule, I'm afraid that they have been suspended for the time being. My apologies, but I'm sure you understand, what with the situation…"

The man trailed off, noticing the slightly raised eyebrow. It was the most reaction Soren had displayed thus far and the man swallowed nervously. As for the violinist himself, he was beginning to understand just how exasperating constantly being apologized to could be.

"I suppose it is ultimately their choice," Soren said. "Nevertheless, I understand that the next rehearsal is scheduled for this coming Sunday. I will be attending. I make no requirement that others do so, they are simply welcome to. I trust that is understood?"

The orchestra representative paled at those words but could only nod. This both men knew was a blatant lie. If Soren really did decide to show up, there was no way the other musicians could not if they did not want to lose face.

"Then I believe that concludes our business," Soren said. "I shall see you Sunday."

So dismissing the man, Soren finished adjusting his clothing and took his leave while the other man simply stood there dumbfounded.

Finally escaping his minder, Soren made his way to the hospital room next to his. Even now he could hear the cheerful bubbling of the little girl resting inside and allowed himself a satisfied smile as he knocked gently. The door opened a few moments later as a middle aged man answered. His eyes widened a bit but he immediately stepped back and offered Soren a respectful bow.

"Reimer-san, thank you once again for helping my children."

"It was no trouble," Soren said, returning the bow with a slight one of his own. "I trust they are recovering?"

"Yes, please enter."

Soren accepted the invitation and stepped in, glancing over at the bed where Sakura was sitting up in playing with her brother. When she saw him a big smile erupted and she waved cheerfully. Cute as a button, Soren decided. And her body was whole and soon to be healthy. Already one set of weights had been lifted from his shoulders. As he glanced over at the jock however, he was reminded of another one still there.

Toji stood immediately and bowed as well.

"Reimer-san."

The boy could actually be quite polite when he had a mind to it.

"Suzuhara-san. It is good to see you and your sister well."

"Thank you again," Toji said. "If you hadn't been there…"

"Do not dwell on the ifs," Soren said with a slight smile of his own. "What is important is you and your sister are safe. Worry about the future, not the past."

"Yes, I will. And thanks for making sure she's got one."

This was much better, Soren decided. If this was all he achieved, at least he was able to relieve the young man of this one pain.

"Dummkopf, na bitte!"

The moment was shattered when an annoyed female voice crashed into the room. Turning around Soren watched as his wife stormed in and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded in German.

"Just saying goodbye to the Suzuharas," Soren replied nonchalantly.

Amanda glanced over at the very confused family and her face transformed from her scowl to prim and proper politeness instantaneously.

"Thank you for looking after my idiot of a husband," she switched to Japanese. "Sometimes I don't know how he gets by without me constantly holding his hand." A wink to Sakura. "Men are like that, no?"

The little girl clasped her hands over her mouth to stifle the giggle but some still leaked out. The elder Suzuhara simply chuckled and replied with a few pleasantries of his own. Toji seemed more guarded but eventually relaxed as Amanda took on a more cheerful tone. Then again, the steady reddening of his face suggested he was not really able to relax after all. Soren should not have forgotten that about the young man and it was obvious Amanda was fully aware of the reaction her mature and full form was having. After exchanging farewells the husband and wife made their exit, leaving the Suzuharas time amongst themselves.

"So," Amanda said out in the hallway and reverting back to her native German. "You were at ground zero."

"Not quite," Soren replied in the same language, "but close enough."

"NERV's going to want to debrief you again, and I can't exactly get you out of that without it looking like an abuse of my privileges."

"You already know what I'm going to say to them. I saw a bright light, closed my eyes, and next thing I know a bunch of NERV personnel were trying to pry Sakura out of my arms. What, are they expecting me to change my story since the last interview?"

"More like they just want to make sure you didn't see anything they don't want seen. They'll keep it quick and simple, they wouldn't want to look like they're wasting time and money on a closed issue."

"Now that you're here, you mean?"

Amanda's response was a playful jab of Soren's side with her free hand.

"The amount of collateral damage was surprisingly low," Amanda said, eyeing her husband. "A lot of the explosion was directed downward or away from where you were."

Did you do something, was the unspoken question.

"Perhaps Shinji has a more intuitive grasp as a pilot than anyone presumed," Soren said, cocking his head to the side just a tad.

No, was the answer.

Amanda considered the possibilities thoughtfully. By all rights the explosion should have flattened several blocks. That so many buildings were still standing, at least for now, was downright miraculous. Having been caught out in the open like that, Soren and the two kids should also have died from the shockwave if nothing else. They had survived however and the fact that they survived without direct intervention meant Shinji had to have done something different. The only question was whether that difference was good or bad.

"How do you think the stooge will react?" Amanda asked.

"A good question," Soren said. "We did not see the pilot get pulled out, so Toji is unlikely to recognize him at school. Then again knowing Shinji, he'll accidentally reveal the truth and that issue should resolve itself."

"Hmm, so punch or no punch?"

A shrug. "Sakura seems quite certain they're alive because the EVA defeated the Angel. Toji seems a bit ambivalent. Hopefully he does not overthink all this."

Amanda snorted. "I don't think that'll be a problem.

"So how did things go with Misato?" Soren asked, deciding now was a good time to switch topics.

"Oh, she still hasn't changed," Amanda said. "Still procrastinating on some things like her paperwork and housework, but otherwise she's doing a decent job. I told her I'd make Shinji go through therapy."

Soren frowned. "That seems a bit cruel."

"Oh hush you. And he won't be suffering alone, I'm going to make Misato sit in on the sessions as well."

"Can you do that?"

Amanda nodded. "While we're both captains, I could actually even order Commander Ikari around if those orders are demonstrably in accordance with my remit. So yes, Misato's going into therapy as well."

"Why did you never put Asuka through that while back in Germany? Or Mari for that matter."

"Lest you forget, I _did_ put Asuka through therapy, I just made her talk to _me_. And Mari doesn't need it, she's basically as well adjusted as any 14 year old girl that pilot giant robots can be."

The slight shifting of Soren's arms told Amanda he did not quite agree with that assessment but he was not going to argue about it.

"So, do you already have a therapist lined up?"

Amanda nodded. "Dr. Hitomi Hayashima. She's been with NERV-Tokyo for a couple of years now and she knows what she's doing."

Or she damn well better, went the unspoken subtext. Not that there was any real reason to worry, both knew. After all, they knew Hayashima about as well as people could ever understand each other, even if they had yet to actually physically meet. This time around.

* * *

This was technically the second time Shinji was visiting the GeoFront as far as the boy knew and this time around Misato managed to not get them lost on the way to their appointment. The conference room that they entered also seemed to be in the upper levels, which probably was the main factor in that bit of good fortune. Waiting for Shinji and Misato was the foreign woman that had ridden in the car with them and gave Shinji the little pep talk before he was shoved into the entry plug. This time she was in a navy blue jacket with a high collar and inverted triangle badge on her left breast. Her skirt was also at least knee length, making it more demure than Misato's. Amanda smiled kindly at him and Shinji returned it with a small one of his own.

"Well, now that things are nice and peaceful, it's time we had some proper introductions," Misato said. "Shinji-kun, this is Captain Amanda Sommer-Reimer, UN Auditor-General to NERV. Basically she makes sure we're not laundering any of the trillions of yen the UN gives us." That last part was barely even a stage whisper as Misato delivered it with a wink. "Amanda, this is Ikari Shinji-kun, the Third Child and provisional pilot of EVA Unit 01."

"It's a pleasure to meet you under more mundane circumstances Herr Ikari," Amanda said, somehow fluidly mixing her Japanese with the German mode of address.

"Um, yes, you too," Shinji said nervously with a slight bow.

"Well, let's all have a seat," Amanda said. "No point being uncomfortable while we talk."

The trio did so though no one took the seat at the front of the table. Instead Amanda sat down directly across from Shinji with Misato to his immediate right.

"First thing's first," Amanda began. "I want you to understand, Herr Ikari, that if you remain with NERV it will be because you yourself choose to do so. We will not hold you against your will, no matter how much we do want you to stay. Is that clear?"

Shinji nodded.

"Good. Now, having said that, we really do need you here. I apologize that there was not enough time to give you a proper briefing before throwing you into the deep end. By all rights we should have had this little chat weeks ago before the appearance of the Angel and given you enough time to think it over before deciding whether you wanted to pilot or not. A mistake was made, one that I will see to will not happen again."

Amanda's eyes hardened ever so slightly at that last part and yet Shinji felt somewhat comforted by that instead of frightened. This woman was being remarkably blunt and was actually admitting to him that the way he was treated was wrong. It was an unusual experience and despite the discomfort and uncertainty it elicited, Shinji could not lie to himself and claim it was entirely unwelcome.

"The reason we needed and still need your help, Herr Ikari, is because the human race faces a very real threat of extinction. I assume you were taught the history of the Second Impact in school?"

"Yes," Shinji said.

"It's all a lie," Amanda stated.

It took Shinji a few seconds to fully process the statement but once he did his reaction was not at all surprising.

"Huh?"

To say the boy was confused would be redundant. His mind, while not completely locked up, was simply not sure what other reaction to make.

"The event commonly referred to as Second Impact was not a meteorite strike," Amanda continued. "It was in fact a massive release of energy triggered by Adam, the first Angel. The Angel that you fought and defeated three days ago was Sachiel, the third Angel." Amanda's voice fell flat. "And based on our present projections, there are at least fourteen additional Angels at large."

Shinji's eyes widened as the ramifications hit him. He knew from school that after Second Impact over a billion people died from the tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters that occurred in its wake. Another two billion perished in the interim chaos as the remnants of humanity fought one another for food and other resources. Humanity nearly finished what Second Impact had started when the threat of a global nuclear holocaust was ignited by the Indians and Pakistanis. Fortunately the other nuclear powers at the time had decided not to join in that particular mutual insanity, minus the lunatic that tossed a nuke at Old Tokyo.

"We believe that if left unchecked, another Angel could cause a Third Impact," Amanda said. "To prevent such an occurrence from happening is the sole purpose of NERV." Somehow she managed to say that with a completely straight face. "That is why the Evangelions were built and that is why you were brought here, Herr Shinji Ikari. I will not lie, we desperately need your help and there will be some parties of NERV that would try strong arming or manipulating you into piloting."

The memory of that pale, blue haired girl in bandages surfaced in Shinji's head again and he felt his fists tighten. Both Amanda and Misato seemed to notice it and exchanged quick glances.

"Nevertheless, you deciding to stay means nothing if you feel pressured or forced into it," Amanda said. "If you cannot believe in what you're doing, then sending you out there again amounts to little more than consigning you to an early death. Do you understand?"

"Umm, I think so," Shinji said.

The corner of Amanda's mouth quirked. "We'll work on that. What it boils down to, Herr Ikari, is that you need to be piloting for yourself out there. You may decide to pilot the EVA for others' sake, but you at least need to be able to pilot for yourself. If you can't do something for yourself, then you may very well find yourself unable to do something for anyone else. So, can you pilot EVA for your own sake?"

Shinji shifted uncomfortably. While he had only ever met Amanda briefly before, her words were hitting too close to home. It was as if she could peer into his soul and knew exactly what he did not want to talk about. Yet despite knowing so, she still dredged them up. Shinji was not sure whether he resented her for it or was relieved at finding someone who could give voice to his pain.

"I'll, try, umm, Reimer-san."

"Please, Amanda," the woman insisted. "If you really want to use Reimer-san on something, then do it to my stuffy old husband."

A bark of a laugh escaped Misato before she caught herself and Amanda grinned in concert.

"Anyway, welcome aboard, Herr Ikari." Amanda extended a hand across the table. "I hope we will not give you reason to think your efforts wasted or unappreciated."

Smiling shyly, Shinji took it. "Thank you. And, just Shinji is fine."

An hour later as the last piece of paper was finally signed, Shinji wondered if Amanda might have been lying about that last bit.

"Well, that takes care of all the red tape nonsense," Amanda said way more cheerfully than anyone who had spent that long going through paper after paper should be. "As of eleven hundred hours this day, July 10th 2015, you, Shinji Ikari, are formally the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01 under the auspicious of NERV."

"Congratulations Shinji-kun," Misato said proudly. "And thank you."

Shinji smiled weakly and nodded.

"Now, before the good captain whisks you away I thought we would go over at least one of the benefits packages you have," Amanda continued on in her cheery tone. It was almost unnerving how happy she seemed to be. "In addition to all of the usual things like healthcare and the like, you also will receive a stipend of one million yen a month for your services."

"WHAT!?"

The outburst came from not Shinji himself, who was simply sitting there with his mouth hanging agape, but from his recently designated guardian one Misato Katsuragi.

"Is there a problem, Captain?" Amanda asked sweetly.

"But-but-but that's more than I get paid!"

"Well if you could pilot an eighty meter tall robot that fights massive unidentified terrestrial organisms, then I'm sure we can see about adjusting your pay grade as well."

All this delivered with a most beatific smile that Misato knew Amanda had been waiting for just this moment to use. Sinking down back into her seat, Misato flashed a rueful smile back at her old friend.

"Alright, you win this round, but just wait until next time."

"I await with abject terror," Amanda said.

"Well Shinji-kun, looks like you're a rich man now," Misato said, shifting her target over to her young charge.

Shinji laughed nervously. "Well, I'm not sure what I'd use all that money for."

"Oh I'm sure you'll think of something," Amanda said. "Now, technically you haven't been here for the full month but after your excellent performance defeating Sachiel I think we can just count those extra days. Payday is the second business day of every month for the last month and it'll be directly deposited into your account. Do you have your permanent ID card yet?"

"Umm, no, not yet."

"Alright, once you do get it it'll also serve as a debit card linked to your account."

"Say Amanda," Misato said. "Since when did the pilots get that high a stipend anyway? I don't remember it being that much back in Germany."

"It's always been there," Amanda said, "but only for pilots that are going onto active combat duty. Seeing as how Shinji's the first one to do so, it's natural that he's the first that gets the bump. I'm also putting Rei on that grade as well seeing as that sorry excuse of a man tried to send her out against Sachiel in that condition."

Shinji needed no other hints to figure out whom Amanda was referring to. "Um, the other pilot, her name is Rei?"

"Ayanami Rei," Misato answered. "She's the First Child identified as a potential EVA pilot."

"I see," Shinji said.

"It'd be good if you got to know her better," Amanda said, though there was a slight hint of tension that Misato barely caught and wondered about. "You two will be working together after all."

"Oh, right," Shinji said as his mind recalled Ayanami's bandaged form and the white outfit closely hugging her form. His face reddened uncontrollably at the thought.

Misato snickered but a quick clearing of the throat by Amanda preempted any teasing on the part of the captain. Instead she simply smiled and glanced back at the auditor.

"So, this would mean Asuka and Mari aren't on that paygrade yet?"

Amanda shook her head. "They will be if they get transferred here." She then looked over at Shinji. "I might need to sign you up for some self-defense classes too in retrospect."

"Huh? Why?"

Misato chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure they'll get along fine. But, better safe than sorry."

Worry now mixed in with his confusion as Shinji looked back and forth between the two women but neither seemed ready to let him in on whatever unspoken secret they were sharing and so he resigned himself to finding out the hard, and potentially painful way, sometime in the future. Hopefully the far future.

"If that's all?" Misato said.

Amanda nodded. "Have fun with Ritsuko. Oh, we still on for cards this Sunday?"

"You betcha," Misato confirmed with good cheer and slapped Shinji on the shoulder.

The two departed the conference room leaving Amanda to shuffle through all the papers that had been signed and headed deeper into the Geofront.

"Now let's see," Misato said, pulling out a map. "We need to get down to the second simulation room to meet with Ritsuko and get you suited up for your first synchro test."

"A what test?"

"Well, you'd have to ask Ritsuko for the technical details," Misato said as they walked, "but to control the EVA's movements you have to synchronize your thoughts to it. Remember when I told you to imagine walking?"

Shinji nodded.

"Synchronization basically makes the EVA like an extension of yourself. The higher the sync ratio, the better you can control the EVA. And, conversely, the more you feel what the EVA feels."

That was not terribly difficult to understand. "Like the EVA's pain."

Misato nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Shinji-kun, but if there was another way to fight the Angels we wouldn't be asking you to endure this."

"It's, alright Misato-san," Shinji replied. "I think, I think I know why I'm here. I think I know why I'll pilot the EVA."

"Good," Misato said. "But you know, if you ever feel the need to talk, you can always come to me. I am your guardian after all."

To this Shinji gave her another smile, this one feeling more genuine than so many of the others she had seen on him before. In return, Misato offered one of her own. Maybe Amanda was on to something when she said that Misato needed to be more than just a guardian to the young man, that she needed to be his family. Seeing how his real family had treated him, Misato could well imagine his sense of confusion and pain. Well, Shinji had made a courageous decision to fight for her and the rest of humanity in the EVA. The least she could do was be there and keep his heart from bleeding anymore.

* * *

"Umm, excuse me?"

The freckled brunette looked over at Shinji. "Ikari-kun, was it?"

"Yes," the boy said shyly.

Hikari offered a reassuring smile. "Welcome to the class. Did you need some help with the school's systems?"

"Umm, yes please," Shinji said sheepishly. "My old school didn't use terminals like this."

"No problem," Hikari assured him. "Now, you've logged in already, and there's only a few things you need to really know about. The classwork for the current class is here, and homework assignments are stored here. When you're done, make sure to remember to submit them otherwise the teacher's won't see them for grading and you'll get docked points if they're late."

"Okay," Shinji acknowledged with a nod.

"Now, there is an internal chat network that students can use, but remember that during class you're supposed to be paying attention to lecture," Hikari warned gently.

"Alright," Shinji said. "I'll try to behave."

For that he received a smile and Hikari proceeded to explain the other bits and pieces he might find useful in the system. By the time break was over Shinji felt he had the basics down and thanked the class rep. She politely returned the courtesy and proceeded to her own desk to wait for the teacher to arrive. Lunch eventually came and Shinji slumped into his desk.

School would not really be that hard, if the history lecture that had just ended was anything to go by. It almost seemed as if the teacher was relating his own life story instead of trying to teach them about the world pre-Second Impact. Perhaps that was why Hikari had not really pressed the point about staying out of the chat rooms during class, even if the class rep herself seemed to be following the rules.

"Hey, Toji!"

"Suzuhara-kun!?"

The two cries caused Shinji to look up as another boy wearing the school's athletic jumpsuit entered. A bespectacled boy that sat to Shinji's rear by the windows had joined the Hikari in greeting the newcomer.

"Man, where've you been the last week?" the male student asked. "We were worried, you know."

"My lil sis' in the hospital," the boy identified as Toji explained. "My pa and grandpa are busy with work, so I've keeping her company."

"Your sister? Is she hurt?" Hikari asked.

"Nah, well not really. She was sick for a bit and well, there was that fight last week."

"Oh, the robot battle!" the other boy said excitedly. "Wait, were you there!?"

"Is Sakura okay?" Hikari followed up.

"Yeah, she's fine," Toji assured them. "And yeah, we was there. We got out in time though, some new guy that just moved into our building helped get us out 'fore things got bad."

Hikari sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

"Oh man, you have to tell me what happened!"

"Aida!" Hikari chided.

"Hey, what, he said they got out fine right?"

"Well I suppose," Hikari grumbled.

"Nah, ts okay class rep," Toji said. "Kensuke's always been like that. Anyway, not like I can tell much. By the time we got outside it was almost over. That, robot thingy? It was pounding away at that monster. Next thing I know, there's this splosion and I'm flat on my ass. Our neighbor's holding onto Sakura, keeping her away from the blast. But, well, when we could see again we were all a-ok."

"Man," Kensuke said with a sigh. "What I wouldn't have given to have been there."

"Aida!" This time Hikari did not even bother trying to moderate her voice.

"Ow, alright, alright already class rep," Kensuke conceded. "Well, glad to have you back with us buddy."

"Yeah, good ta be back," Toji said with a smile, though it quickly faded. "Few missing bodies though."

"Huh? Oh yeah, a few kids got pulled by their families cause of the battle. But hey listen, we got a transfer student!"

"A transfer student?" Toji said, glancing over at the new kid. Shinji tried to pretend he had not been eavesdropping.

"Yeah, isn't it suspicious?" Kensuke said. "I mean, just as everyone else is leaving he shows up! You think he's got something to do with the giant robot?"

"Oh lay off Aida," Hikari admonished. "You heard him say he was here for his father's work."

"Well yeah but…"

"Stop trying to make everything a conspiracy theory and maybe start applying some of your brain to the classwork. Or am I perhaps being too lenient letting you hang out in the chatrooms during class?"

"Ah nope! No, you are the epitome of generosity and understanding, class rep! I assure you that you will be given no cause to regret it!"

Toji chuckled at his friend's discomfort but his eyes stayed fixed on the new student. The boy twitched as if aware of the attention and Toji resolved to have a little talk with him after school.

Classes resumed after lunch and Shinji began ruing his earlier assessment of the school's difficulty. Sure the morning humanities classes had turned out to be something of a joke, but the science and math lectures were actually hard. Having joined in the middle of the term he was already looking at a lot of catchup work and it was obvious Tokyo-3's schools were well ahead of his provincial junior high. As he stared in frustration at the problem sets, Shinji wondered if he could get NERV to spring for a private tutor or something. It was likely due to his mental exhaustion that Shinji did not notice the jock walking up to his desk.

"Yo, transfer student."

Shinji nearly jumped and looked up. "Huh? Yes?"

"Got a sec? Wanna have a little chat."

"Uh, sure," Shinji said nervously.

Not sure why he agreed but also not sure if he could have said no, Shinji followed the other student out the room. Kensuke was right behind the two and Shinji thought he saw the class rep cast them a worried look. The trio ended up in one of the causeways connecting the school's different buildings before coming to a stop.

"So, lay it to me straight," Toji said. "You the guy driving that big robot?"

Shinji blinked. "Huh?"

Toji scowled. "Don't play dumb. Just gimme a straight yes or no."

Shinji frowned, a tiny flicker of anger rising in his heart. But he suppressed it, recalling the mention of Toji's sister and how she had nearly gotten hurt in the battle.

"Yes," Shinji said firmly. "I'm the pilot of EVA Unit 01."

It was the first time Shinji had ever made that declaration, yet it somehow felt right. It felt so right in fact that he almost did not notice Toji taking a step toward him.

"Hit me."

Both Kensuke and Shinji just stared at their classmate.

A deadpan "What" was all Shinji managed.

"I said hit me! C'mon don't hold back, sock me a good one!"

Now both boys were looking at Toji as if he was completely insane. They exchanged helpless glances at each other but all Kensuke had for Shinji was a shake of his head. No, he had no idea what his best friend was trying to get at either.

"Uh, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Toji nearly exploded. "Now hit me already ya wuss!"

The anger perked up again but died just as quickly. Still, it was enough of a push for Shinji to momentarily forget the ludicrousness of the situation.

"Alright, you asked me for it."

Rearing back, Shinji primed himself and suddenly drove his fist into Toji's stomach with all his might. The jock's eyes flew open and he made a gurgling sound, yet he somehow remained standing. As Shinji pulled back, he looked down worriedly at the other student but a cry from behind quickly wretched his attention away.

"What are you three idiots doing!?"

The shrill voice of the class rep caused Kensuke and Shinji to freeze in panic. Toji would have joined them except he was still trying to fight back the urge to clutch his poor stomach.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Shinji cried out in desperation.

"What else would it look like!?" Hikari demanded as she marched up to them.

"Nn-no, class rep," Toji wheezed. "He's telling ta truth."

Hikari's anger gave way to confusion but quickly reverted back. "Alright Suzuhara, then what's YOUR explanation for this!?"

Shinji had to admit, the class rep had a serious set of lungs when she had a mind to use them. And poor Toji being subjected to them after taking a hit to the stomach like that. If he had been fine before, he certainly was not now.

Finally catching his breath, Toji straightened. "You'll see." He turned to face Shinji. "Alright, ya owe me one."

Shinji's jaw dropped open and Kensuke and Hikari were not much better.

"What?"

"I said ya owe me one," Toji said, completely serious. "You said you were the pilot for that Eva-whachamacall it?"

Shinji nodded dumbly.

"Well, me and my sis nearly got hurt in that battle. I want to think that's not what you want to happen, but it damn near did happen. So if you promise to do yer best, ta make sure shit like that don't happen, then we'll call it even. Fair?"

Shinji's jaw had yet to return to its normal position and his efforts to find a response simply saw it rising and following without making a sound. Finally it snapped shut and he looked Toji in the eye. The other boy really was serious about all this. And why not, he was right about what could have happened. If he was willing to take a punch to the stomach to get Shinji to recognize that, Shinji could respect that.

"Fair," Shinji said, extending his hand.

A broad grin crossed Toji's face as he grabbed the offered hand. "The name's Suzuhara Toji."

"Ikari Shinji," Shinji smiled back.

"I'm Aida Kensuke!" The other boy immediately jumped in. "So, that machine's called EVA, right!? What does it run on? How does it walk!?"

"Aida!"

"Aw c'mon class rep!"

Shinji could not help it, the sheer insanity around him was too much. At first it was a mere gurgle, then a full on laugh escaped him and he clutched his sides as it went on and on. Toji joined him quickly and even Hikari and Kensuke were soon caught up in it. As Shinji let it all out of his system, he reflected that maybe, just maybe, coming to Tokyo-3 had been a good thing after all. And none of it had a thing to do with his father.

* * *

The doorbell to the Katsuragi residence rang impatiently until Misato finally opened the door. Standing outside were Amanda and Soren, laden down with supplies for the evening.

"You know, it's generally polite to give people time to answer the door before ringing again," Misato said dryly.

"Didn't know if you were awake or not," Amanda said with a grin. "For all we knew you decided to start early with the festivities."

"Har har, you'll pay for that tonight. You still can't bluff worth a damn."

"Oh, then am I to understand you don't want to partake in the sweet nectar I brought with me from Germany?" Amanda said as she held up a cartoon of Doppelbock dark beer.

Misato's eyes went wide. "Gimme!"

"Ah ah ah, what's the magic word?"

The captain clasped her hands together. "Pleeease?"

Amanda laughed and presented her friend with a bottle. With a cheer Misato charged back into the apartment for a bottle opener as the husband and wife took off their shoes.

"Yahoo! Ah this is the life," Misato cheered contentedly after a snip.

"That it is," Amanda agreed as she joined the captain on the couch.

Soren for his part made for the kitchen area where Shinji was working. The boy was carefully pealing some vegetables just as a load of groceries was dumped on the counter.

"Oh, Reimer-san."

"Shinji," Soren greeted. "I presume we are to be responsible for this evening's fare?"

Shinji smiled slightly. "Seems so, unless you want to subsist on more takeout or microwave food."

"There's nothing wrong with that!" Misato insisted. "And it's not subsisting at all!"

"I see Misato has not changed much since leaving Germany," Soren said, still deadpan.

Shinji nodded, a bit unsure how much humor was intended but deciding that agreeing with the undisputed facts of that statement was safe enough.

"So you know how to cook, Reimer-san?"

"Well enough," Soren said. "I was thinking about some meatloaf tonight."

"Oh, uh, I hope our oven's up to that."

"It should suffice. Have you ever made it before?"

Shinji shook his head. "I've never really cooked much."

"Ah. Well, there is a first time for everything. And learning now should help you considerably in cohabitating with the good captain."

Shinji chuckled. "Probably. How can I help?"

"Well a good, proper Falscher Hase must have boiled eggs in it. Would you mind shelling the ones I brought?"

"No problem."

As the two men went to work, their respective lady friends lounged about in the living room.

"So Soren's still doing most of the cooking?" Misato teased.

"He usually gets home before me," Amanda replied. "Whoever gets back first is on the hook for dinner."

"What if you arrive at the same time?"

"Then we both pitch in," Amanda said. "Besides, I'll take cooking dinner over dealing with bureaucratic nonsense any day."

"Aren't you a bureaucrat yourself?"

"In name only," Amanda replied between sips. "I do after all hold a commission of Captain in the UN Armed Forces."

"Simulated rank," Misato retorted.

"Like NERV's a proper military hierarchy?"

"Well, no," Misato conceded. "Still, I suppose rank does have its privileges. I heard you've finished moving into your new place?"

Amanda grunted. Even if having their old apartment trashed during the first battle was planned, making sure others did not suspect anything meant she had to wait until after the trashing happened before securing a new place. Thankfully between her pull and Soren's fame they had found a nice out of the way place that they could be fairly certain would avoid becoming collateral damage during the next few months.

"Rent in Japan is still insane," Amanda grumbled.

Misato laughed. "Don't you get a housing stipend? And for that matter, doesn't Soren make like a couple times what you do?"

"I suppose."

"So how is his job anyway? I'm surprised he even had a rehearsal today."

"Oh, he pretty much twisted the arms of the other musicians and dared them to not show up when he did," Amanda said. "Of course he then bribed the lot of them with lunch and each a glass of genuine Chateau Mouton Rothschild and now all of them are singing praises about his generosity and dedication to the arts."

Misato let out a low whistle. "How many bottles did that take?"

"He won't tell me. I'm pretty sure he's afraid I'll toss him onto the couch if I find out."

That elicited another bout of laughter from Misato.

"Well I suppose that'll put paid to the rumors of the orchestra moving back to Tokyo-2."

"That was his goal," Amanda agreed with a nod. "You know, Soren might be a virtuoso musician and a hell of a cook, but when you come down to it he's just plain lazy. The real reason why he decided to splurge like that and basically buy off the entire orchestra was so he wouldn't have to commute between Tokyo-3 and Tokyo-2."

"Aww, but doesn't keeping him here mean he can spend more time with you?"

"I guess," Amanda said, taking another sip of her beer.

Misato quickly recalled that while her friend could hold her alcohol, she still tended to get moodier the more she drank. That did not necessarily make her a bad drinking buddy per se, just that she needed to be careful what type of drink they shared if she wanted a specific type of companionship for the evening. Dark beer, was probably not the best idea for a relaxing game of cards after dinner. Speaking of which, the smells from the kitchen were growing more and more tempting. If Misato had to wait much longer her stomach might start consuming itself out of desperation.

"Dinner's ready!"

And not a moment too soon as far as Misato was concerned. Jumping up she made her way to the table and plopped down with an expectant smile. Amanda was right behind, sullen or not the other woman's stomach had also started making its displeasure known. The two men carried over the bounties of the day, Soren a large plate of meatloaf and Shinji what looked to be a bowl of simmering soup. A few side dishes followed and Misato smiled happily at the fare spread before her.

"Thank you for the food!" she said cheerfully.

"I know you may not be used to a European style meal," Amanda said to Shinji, "but I hope you'll still find something you enjoy."

"Oh, I'm fine," Shinji said. "This all looks, delicious."

"And it is!" Misato said as she bit into a slice of the meatloaf. "Ah, it's so soft and tasty, I think I'm in heaven!"

"The road to a woman's heart is through her stomach," Soren muttered.

Shinji's chopsticks froze as he heard what had to have been a joke from the stoic German. Throughout their entire time cooking the older man had been serious and focused on the task at hand. Even now his face remained composed with not a hint of a smile. In some ways that composure reminded Shinji of his father, yet when he gazed into Soren's eyes there was a gentleness to the man's calm.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure about that?" Amanda said.

"I seem to recall that was how I first got your attention," Soren replied.

The brunette flushed slightly but made no retort. Soren on the other hand reached into another of the bags they had brought along and placed a bottle on the table. Amanda's eyes went wide.

"Is that a Chateau Lafite Rothschild!?"

Misato's eyes also went wide, almost giddy with anticipation.

"This seemed a fitting occasion," Soren said. "To celebrate a reunion of old friends and the making of new ones."

This time the older man did smile and even directed it at Shinji. The boy returned it, feeling a sense of warmth he found hard to describe. When he first moved in with Misato, she had claimed that it often felt nice to eat with others. Now Shinji finally felt like he understood what she meant.

"Wark."

The assembled humans all looked down at the penguin that had waddled over to Soren.

"Wark."

Without missing a beat Soren popped the cork and poured the first glass of the night and handed it to the penguin. With an approving wark he accepted and waved a fin at Soren before making for his fridge. Soren then placed four glasses on the table including one before Shinji. As he filled it Shinji felt another sort of warmth starting to color his face, all without a drop of alcohol entering his body yet.

End Chapter 1

So what were your favorite moments in this chapter? I'm especially proud of PenPen's introduction. Ahem.

Anyway, chapters 2 through 3 have actually already been written, but I'm spacing them out to a) buy me time to actually write more chapters and b) umm, I guess string my readers along a bit. Wouldn't want to overdose my readers too much.

So, general notes. Toji is somewhat tricky to write for because in Japanese he speaks with a distinct dialect. I think the dub tried to give him an accent and some other writers have tried various methods of getting that across. The really irritating ones involve absolutely butchering the spelling to make his speech more phonetic but damn near impossible to read. I've elected to just try to make his speech as informal and casual as possible.

Over the course of this story, the tricky part is going to be balancing appearances. The entire point of this narrative is of course to tell a story about the EVA characters. And while it is not yet completely obvious, I could make the argument that every scene does involve those characters. I could even claim that the scenes are almost solely centered around characters from the EVA canon/near-canon. However, because the story is also about a certain amount of what-ifs and the effects of certain changes, I need to provide grounding for those changes and show their consequences. As such I am not going to do any sort of scene by scene reprisal of the EVA series, instead picking and choosing to show the impact of my changes where I can. While this is an AU, this is intended to be a kind of back-handed subtle style of an AU. Shinji does not go into this having a (visible) spine after all and while things have been in the works behind the scenes for a long time before the start of the story proper, the immediate effect on Shinji only starts after his arrival in Tokyo-3. Don't worry, what's actually happening will become clearer as the story progresses and I'll be dropping more and more, blatant hints as it progresses. And a reminder of one other hint, as of right now I have only introduced _one_ character that is extra-canon and that character is a bit player at this point. _Everyone_ else is from the source material. I'll let all of you try to wrap your heads around how I'm doing this.

At this point I have a general plan for the story. I know who the antagonist beyond SEELE and Gendo will be and I think I have a really cool showdown planned for near endgame that all of you will like. The AT-fields will be flying, quite literally, in that one. I should perhaps stop teasing though.

Anyway, leave a review to let me know what you think of my little return to the EVA fandom. I'd like to think that after a couple of years refining my writing skills, this is a vast improvement on my previous works. Looking back, those tended to get really, really sloppy.

Sidenote: Words cannot describe the temptation I had to go back and rename Midori Kayabuki as Midori Kirigaya after I noticed the coincidence. I shall however resist, for the time being.

Z98


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Accelerando

"The scenario is unfolding as expected," the black monolith with the words SEELE 03 sounded.

"Still, we should not become too complacent," another monolith, this one marked as 10, countered. "We are at but the beginning of our trial and much is left to be done."

"Indeed," spoke 08. "Ikari has so far adhered to his instructions, but it is only a matter of time."

"Precautions have already been taken," a confident voice stated and despite the lack of any visual indicators it was apparent all attention had fallen to the monolith marked as 01. "If Ikari proves difficult, the mechanisms are already in place to rein him in or remove him outright. Is that not so, Hauptmann Sommer?"

The figure seated at the desk might almost have been mistaken for the subject of this little conversation. Her hands were folded loosely before her face, leaving only her bright blue eyes visible. It was uncanny how Amanda could so easily emulate the commander of NERV-Tokyo and Kiel found himself almost amused at her posture. It would not be beyond her to be pulling SEELE's leg even in so somber a gathering.

"I have already made insinuations as to Ikari's fitness to command NERV in my report," Amanda said. "Minimizing their impact should force Ikari to burn a few political favors at the least and should set the stage nicely in the long run. Of course, the fact that NERV did succeed against Sachiel while under his command will play its own part. After all, better the devil they know than one they have yet to meet."

"Nevertheless, the pattern has been established," 04 spoke. "If the battle against the Angels continues to be such a drain on resources, certain parties might entertain a change in command out of avarice if nothing else."

"Let us not forget that ultimately the Angels must be defeated," said 11. "So long as Ikari fulfills that mission, he may entertain some of his own delusions, within bounds of course."

"And the good hauptmann here will see to it that he stays within those bounds," 01 declared.

"Of course," Amanda said. "That is why I am here after all."

"Good, good," 02 said for all of them. "Then we shall have nothing to worry about."

After a few more grandiose and over the top declarations, the meeting was concluded and the monoliths began disappearing one by one. Finally only 01 remained and Amanda looked up.

"Was there something else, grandfather?"

"I find myself with a curious sentiment," Lorenz said. "You have done well so far, and I cannot help but feel a bit of pride."

Amanda smiled. "I will not fail your confidence, grandfather."

Lorenz hmphed, but there was no disagreement or embarrassment in the sound. "Of those that have ever made such a declaration, you are one that I believe."

The black monolith disappeared and the lights came on, leaving Amanda in a large green room. Alone for the moment and in relative privacy, Amanda allowed her smile to linger. She had Lorenz's confidence and approval. She almost regretted that she would not be there to see his reaction when the cards fell.

* * *

The Angel walked out from behind the building to be greeted by a burst of rifle fire from Unit 01. It promptly fell, exploding in a shower of digitalized lights. Target neutralized, 01 moved on searching for new threats. Watching from the control deck, one of the observers clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.

"Something wrong?" Misato asked her friend.

"The Third Angel was nowhere this easy to take down," Amanda said. "Can this really be counted as training?"

"Well it's early days yet," Misato said. "Ritsuko and her staff are still refining the simulators. Once we have a stable baseline we'll start programming some more challenging opponents for Shinji-kun to tackle."

"Let's hope he gets some real practice before the next Angel shows up."

"My aren't you ever the optimist," Misato quipped. "Anyway, the session's almost over. I'll have Shinji-kun meet you down in the gym once he's out."

Amanda nodded. "Don't keep me waiting too long."

After her friend was gone Misato turned on the PA. "Shinji-kun, good job for today. Come on out and get cleaned up, you've got one more training session today."

"Alright," Shinji-kun said somewhat tiredly.

Twenty minutes later Shinji found himself standing barefoot in one of NERV's gyms wearing a karate gi. Standing before him was Amanda in a similar outfit, albeit she had a stiff black belt knotted tightly around her waist. A distinctly sinking feeling could be felt in Shinji's stomach.

"Shinji," Amanda said sternly. "Do you know why you're here?"

Shinji looked down at his gi and then at Amanda. "I, guess I'll be learning martial arts?"

A slight smile that reassured him at least a little bit. Amanda then began pacing and circled around the Third Child.

"As the pilot of EVA Unit 01, you are a very important person. NERV has dedicated considerable resources to your protection, but ultimately there will be times when you must fend for yourself, if only to buy time for others to reach and help you. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, Amanda-san."

"While we are in here, you will address me as sensei," Amanda said sternly.

"Uh, yes sensei."

"Breathe Shinji, breathe."

Following her instructions, Shinji took deep breaths and his heartrate started steading again.

"Good. Now, martial arts and self-defense are technically two different things. Martial arts seek to train your body and thus help improve your mind and spirit. Self-defense however is for fighting and defeating an opponent. Anything will get the job done, there's no such thing as a cheap shot. Simply learning martial arts does not mean you will be adept at self-defense. You are likely to fare better than someone completely untrained, but there are distinct limitations. Clear?"

Shinji nodded. "Yes, sensei."

"What I will train you in will not be self-defense," Amanda said. "To be frank, self-defense would be more directly useful to your immediate circumstances, but it is not what you need in the long term. What you need are those things that martial arts can give you."

"Umm, but didn't you say I needed to be able to fend for myself?"

Amanda leaned over and stared.

"Umm, sensei."

The smile returned. "What you learn here should be enough to make sure you can fend for yourself physically and as you get better it'll be even more effective. What you need is not the strengthening of the body, however. What you need is the strengthening of the mind, of the heart, and of the spirit."

"The spirit?"

Amanda straightened and her face adopted a serious, almost tense look. "Shinji. I know you've been hurt. I know you want to open up to others, but that you're afraid that you'll get hurt again. But the truth is, until you open up again, the pain that you already have will never heal."

Shinji's eyes widened but as Amanda's words sank in he cast his gaze aside unable to meet her eyes. Suddenly Amanda reached out and forced him to look at her again. Her own eyes remained serious, even a bit sad. But they did not waver.

"I can't make you open up to others, that's a choice you have to make," Amanda said. "I'm not going to pretend that doing so is easy, or that you won't get hurt again because I'd be lying. But what I can do is help you strengthen your heart so that you can weather the inevitable pain, so that you'll survive all the turmoil and strife until you finally reach the end where someone will reach back for you and let you as close to them as you want them to be to you."

"Why are you doing this for me?" Shinji asked after a few moments of lingering silence.

Amanda let him go and straightened once more. "Because you asked me to."

Shinji looked at her in confusion.

"It's quite the Gordian knot there," Amanda said calmly. "With my help, you might just be able to cut it yourself."

Still not understanding what Amanda meant, Shinji simply nodded but resolved to try looking it up later. Amanda smiled again, obviously aware he was still confused but apparently deciding to move on. The next words out of her mouth were a series of orders and Shinji soon found himself positioning his body in a variety of stances. Through it all Amanda demanded absolute perfection in the placement of feet and position of arms, causing Shinji to start exercising muscles he had never known he possessed. By the end of the session his body was sore yet felt remarkably light and relaxed. After getting home and remembering to look up that little knot reference, his head quickly became equally light as his brain tried and utterly failed to answer one question. Who, or what, was Amanda Sommer?

* * *

"Yo, Shin-man, it's lunch time."

Shinji blinked and looked up at his new friend Toji cradling his haul from the cafeteria.

"Better hurry or there won't be nothing left," he warned.

"That's alright," Shinji said. "I brought a lunch."

"Oh really? Misato-san cooking for ya?" Toji said with a sly grin.

Shinji burst out in laughter, unable to help but imagine a pre-cooked meal with microwave instructions sitting on the counter as what Misato's effort would look like.

"No, she doesn't really know how to cook," Shinji said. "And I'm not sure I would survive daily doses."

"So you're the one that cooks for her?" Kensuke said as he maneuvered his desk over to Shinji's. "Lucky bastard."

"If you want to think of it that way," Shinji said with a shrug. "She's, kind of a slob."

"Blasphemy!" Toji insisted. "How could such a goddess have any imperfections!?"

"You never saw the apartment before I moved in," Shinji pointed out. "And you still haven't seen the inside of her room."

"Aw c'mon, it's a small price to pay for getting to be around a beauty like her!"

A tingle ran down Shinji's spine and he snuck a peek past Toji's shoulder in time to see Hikari cast a rueful glare at the boy. Her pigtails flickered as she turned away but Shinji had seen enough. There really was a lot one could pick up simply by paying attention.

"But man, sucks that you still have to go to school and take tests even though you're a pilot," Kensuke said.

"Well this morning's history test wasn't that bad," Shinji said.

"Nah, those're easy-peasy," Toji agreed. "Gotta watch out for the chem test this afternoon though."

That Shinji was in perfect agreement with. He had yet to even catch up on the makeup homework and had not doubt he would flunk the upcoming test. Asking NERV for a tutor was looking to be more and more necessary. On the other hand. Shinji glanced over at the class rep again. In the past he always simply reacted, letting others take the first step. What would it feel like to take that step himself? Shinji felt a slight quiver in his heart. It was still afraid, still unsure, and so he remained at his seat.

* * *

"It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Ikari Shinji-kun," the woman in the lab coat greeted.

"Umm, it's nice to meet you too, Dr. Hayashima."

The doctor's smile somehow reached her eyes, making it look all the more genuine.

"Please, have a seat," the woman said as she adjusted her glasses. "Captain, you as well."

While Misato was all smiles as well, Shinji could feel a bit of tension from his guardian. That tension had been there ever since Misato informed him that Amanda wanted him to attend a few sessions with the base psychiatrist. While it had not been phrased as an order, something told Shinji that it could easily turn into one if he resisted. And so despite his unease he had agreed, only learning later that Misato herself had been given an order to sit in on those sessions. That came as a surprise, though he had yet to decide whether it was a good or bad one. After today's first session maybe.

"Comfortable?"

"Umm, I suppose," Shinji allowed.

"No need to be too polite," Hayashima said. "I know a lot of people don't really care for others prying into their affairs. If you feel uncomfortable, feel free to let me know. Otherwise I wouldn't exactly be doing my job."

Shinji nodded to indicate he understood, even if he was not entirely convinced.

"Now, before we begin," Hayashima said, "I just want you to know that I won't hold anything against you."

Shinji blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"As I said, a lot of people don't react well to the kind of probing questions us psychiatrists ask," Hayashima explained. "Sometimes they react strongly, even violently. Just as often they feel remorseful about it once they've calmed down and it becomes another burden upon them. And so I'm letting you know beforehand, I won't hold anything against you."

Shinji found himself a tad speechless as the doctor basically stated that she was preemptively forgiving him for anything that might happen during these sessions. That seemed awfully generous of her. It also made Shinji even more nervous about what she might dig up in him that could elicit such a reaction. His fists tightened. If he was honest with himself, there was a lot.

"First, let's start simple," Hayashima said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? In your own words."

"Umm, well, my name is Ikari Shinji, I just turned 14 last month and umm, I guess you already know all that."

Hayashima simply nodded and smiled, waiting patiently for Shinji to continue. At least she was not telling him he was wasting her time or anything.

"My, my mother died when I was young," Shinji said. "I was raised by an uncle and aunt, umm, I think they were from my father's side." A frown creased Shinji's face. "I grew up in a quiet town in the country, there weren't that many people about."

Another pause as Shinji tried to dredge up those memories. "I'm not sure I ever really knew them."

"Who do you know then?" Hayashima asked.

The frown deepened as Shinji thought. Minutes seemed to pass in silence and Misato felt an almost uncontrollable urge to fidget. She fought it down however, knowing just how important this was.

"I, I don't know," Shinji admitted. He glanced at Misato, guilt evident in his eyes. "I guess, I really don't know anyone."

"Do you want to?"

Shinji did not immediately answer. Throughout the silence however he held Misato's gaze and his eyes were steady throughout. When he finally replied, there was no hesitation or doubt.

"Yes."

Misato smiled, unsure of the magnitude but immediately understanding just how momentous this step was for her young charge. Shinji was admitting to himself that he wanted to know others instead of simply waiting for other people to take that first step. She felt a sense of pride swell at this. Even if Shinji was not actually her child and she knew that she was utterly unfit to be a mother, she still felt proud. Now it was up to her to make sure that she had the right to that pride.

* * *

"So, what do we have?" Amanda asked.

Hayashima flipped through her notes and pushed up her glasses once more as she answered. "He's suffering from a severe case of neurosis and social anxiety disorder, fueled by a strong sense of loneliness and isolation. He's not quite clinically depressed, but it would take very little to push him into that zone."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Misato interrupted. "Hold up there. What are you saying is wrong with my Shinji?"

"It's a rather classic case," Hayashima said. "While I do not know the exact circumstances, it is evident that Shinji-kun grew up without establishing the sort of social relationships that help establish a person's sense of self-worth. Lacking those links, he lacks confidence in himself and thus struggles to interact with people in general."

"But he's making friends at school!" Misato protested.

"Yes, and I've read the report," Hayashima nodded. "All indications are those other students made the approach, not Shinji-kun. Left to his own devices, it is unlikely he would have ever talked to them."

"But that's, that's…"

"A problem," Amanda stated. "Suggested course of action, doctor?"

"There are two options, a slow and steady approach like what we are already pursuing or a shock treatment that forces him to confront his demons and either overcome them or be consumed by them."

"That is not an option!" Misato cried out.

"Calmly Misato," Amanda soothed her friend. "I don't think the doctor is actually advocating that one."

"Under normal circumstances, I would not," Hayashima said. "Even here I do not, but I bring it up because Shinji-kun's case is extremely severe. If he does slip into clinical depression there may not be a way to pull him out without shocking him or overdosing him on pharmaceuticals."

"That bad?" said Amanda.

Hayashima nodded, pushing up her sliding glasses again. "It could get that way. Right now he seems to be growing out of his shell, if only slightly. His making of friends is a considerable plus, but there's still a lot that could go wrong. Eventually Shinji-kun will receive a shock of some kind when someone ends up hurting him, intentionally or inadvertently. That will be the danger point. If he's grown strong enough, he'll overcome it and probably shed most of his demons in the process. If he crumbles, well, he may never recover."

"So how do we make sure he's strong enough?" Misato asked.

"What we're doing now," Hayashima said. "Slowly unwind all of the pain that's built up in him, give him outlets that bleeds it off in controllable amounts. Then once it becomes more manageable, we try to deal with the root cause of his anxiety and fear."

Misato sighed. "That won't be easy, especially if his father's uncooperative."

"It's not his father," Hayashima stated.

The NERV operations head looked up in surprise. "What?"

"His father's abandonment certainly played a role, true, but this all precipitated with the death of his mother. That was when his family basically unraveled and that is the point that needs to truly be addressed."

"Well," Amanda tilted her chair to face Misato. "Looks like you've got your work cut out for you."

Misato grimaced and held up her hands. "I'm not really mother material."

"But you're all he's got," Amanda countered. "So we need you to try."

"Yeah," Misato said. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Well in that regard, perhaps I can help," Hayashima said.

Despite herself Misato perked up slightly. "Oh really? Cause I could use all the advice I can get."

Hayashima nodded. "No doubt. But it occurs to me that you have yet to make any of the follow-up appointments I have requested after our quarterly psychological evaluations."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "What does that have to do with Shinji-kun?"

"Just that he obviously wants to get to know you better," Hayashima said. "What better way than to talk a little about yourself during the joint sessions."

"Look," Misato huffed, "we're trying to help Shinji-kun here, and me ranting about my issues isn't going to-"

"Captain, please," Hayashima cut in. "While you may not like to admit it we both know that there are certain things that weigh upon you. If you keep letting them weigh you down, they are liable to interfere with your duties, including the one as the Third Child's guardian. And while you may have your doubts, I firmly believe that seeing another side of you will do Shinji-kun a world of good as well. He's never gotten close enough to someone to see their scars."

Amanda grimaced at the wording and was surprised Misato was remaining so calm about this.

"If you let him in, he'll be that much more willing to let others in himself," Hayashima continued. "And to be frank, in your own way you also need to learn to trust others as well."

Misato fixed her gaze on Hayashima for several minutes of complete silence but the doctor seemed utterly unperturbed. A part of her wanted to scream at the woman and demand to know what gave her the right to be so sanctimonious. Another cried for the relief that the same woman was dangling before her.

"I'll think about it," Misato finally bit out.

"That is all I ask," Hayashima said.

Misato snorted and glanced over at Amanda. "That all for today?"

The German nodded and Misato took her leave. Once the door closed behind her Amanda slumped into her chair.

"Well, that went well," she muttered.

"Or as well as we could have hoped for," Hayashima said, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. "The timing of this was a risk after all."

Looking over at the clock on the wall and the date it displayed, Amanda nodded. "You did good though, I think Shinji'll be fairly clearheaded tomorrow."

"Let's hope so, cause I wasn't joking about the risk of a total breakdown."

Amanda nodded. She was personally all too aware of how real that risk was.

* * *

The blaring klaxons were barely necessarily, as if the giant floating squid approaching the city was not enough warning. Once more UN and JSSDF forces unleashed their might in a futile display and once again Lieutenant-Colonel Kayabuki was stuck as a bystander in a clash she simply had no place in.

"Ma'am, we've been ordered to divert to point J6."

"Acknowledged," Kayabuki said as she looked at the map.

That order would keep them within engagement range in case assuming they made a dash for it, but just far enough that they could try to run away if the thing decided they were a nuisance. The M2 Bradleys of her battalion began moving out, leaving a cloud of smoke and dirt in their wake. The last time around all UN and JSSDF forces had been ordered clear of the city once the EVA deployed, but apparently enough criticism had been lobbed at NERV's previous deployment measures that a few select units were being kept nearby to offer support. Thanks to Kayabuki's unit being one of the ones that escaped the last battle unscathed, she and her troops would be getting a front seat view of the unfolding engagement. Still, since they were mechanized infantry they could still get away with being just a bit back from the absolute front. 25mm rounds might as well be spit as far as an Angel was concerned, annoying and maybe even insulting but ultimately harmless.

"Ma'am, the EVA's been deployed!"

Poking her head out again, Kayabuki watched as the giant robot detached from its launch platform and maneuvered towards the target. The laggard movements were gone, replaced by a more natural gaunt. Its pilot was obviously still green however, advancing in plain sight of the enemy without bothering to use cover. Another building shot up from the ground and one of its walls dropped, revealing a gigantic rifle. The EVA grabbed it and opened fire, pelting the Angel with equally large rounds. None landed, instead impacting against some sort of octagonal barrier.

"There it is again," Kudo said. "What is that?"

"If the brass knows they're not sharing," Kayabuki said. "Keep us within engagement range."

"Aye ma'am!"

The EVA continued firing, emptying an entire clip before it tried to get closer. Then again the Angel had apparently decided the robot shooting at it was a genuine threat and had already turned to close in. Suddenly, a pair of purple lances flared and sliced at the EVA. The pilot somehow reacted in time, jumping aside as the building behind it was cut cleaning in two.

"Damn! How'd it do that?!"

"Lieutenant, less gawking and more doing your job!" Kayabuki snapped.

Kudo clamped his mouth shut, letting his CO focus on her own duties. She watched as the EVA dodged again, this time losing the rifle as it just barely avoided the energy whip. Another building shot up and not surprisingly revealed another rifle. The EVA wasted little time grabbing it and ducking away, just as the Angel perforated the structure. Kayabuki expected the pilot to retreat to avoid the whips, but instead the EVA charged in. It let loose with its new rifle and this time, this time the rounds struck the Angel and blew apart chunks of its body. An enraged roar erupted from the creature but the wounds did little to slow it down as its whips once more lashed out around it. Dozens of buildings were caught in the sweep and the EVA was forced to jump to avoid a similar fate. Unfortunately, before it could land, the Angel's whips recoiled and shot out once more, neatly impaling the EVA.

Kayabuki flinched as the EVA came crashing down and she swore she could almost hear the pilot's scream of pain. Dropping its rifle, a big mistake, the EVA tried to grab onto the whips and wrench them out to no avail. Kayabuki cursed.

"Current range to target!" she shouted.

"Umm, 3.2 clicks!"

Outside the effective range of her guns but still well within their maximum range. It would have to do.

"All units open fire!"

"Aye ma'am!"

Within seconds every cannon in the battalion let loose and flashes of orange fire rained down upon the Angel. This time however whatever shield the Angel had used before did not appear to stop them and they slammed into the creature's body. Each impact cratered the thing's shell and the Angel cried out again, sounding more enraged than in any actual pain. It shifted as if preparing to avenge this insult when a sudden jerk halted its movements. Unit 01 was still grabbing onto the whips, using them to immobilize its opponent. Then without warning it charged and smashed into the Angel, causing both to careen into a nearby river.

"TOWs!" Kayabuki snapped.

One by one the rockets mounted on her Bradleys lit off and a wave of fire roared towards the downed Angel. Their explosions carved more holes in the thing's skin even as Unit 01 pinned it in place. With its whips buried in the EVA, the Angel had no other weapons to respond to these insolent pinpricks. It soon had no time to either as the EVA's shoulder split open to reveal a massive knife. Releasing one of the whips, the EVA grabbed the blade and plunged it into the Angel's core. A shrill grinding sound rang out, echoed by this time a genuine shriek of pain. Kayabuki covered her ears yet somehow the noise still hammered her skull. She was about to drop back into the Bradley and hope that somehow the vehicle's armor might offer some reprieve when a very distinct crack sounded and the Angel slumped down. The whips lost their burning color and sagged, even if they were still buried in the EVA. Despite this the robot seemed to visibly relax with the battle concluded.

Kayabuki allowed herself a smile. "Good job, kid."

A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye caused her to turn about. Up on the hill in front of her Bradley she saw two figures scrambling upward.

"Hey, what the hell are you two doing!"

The cry caused the two to look back and Kayabuki had absolutely no trouble recognizing them.

"Goddamn kids," she muttered, and then more loudly. "Detain them!"

The surprise on their faces was quickly replaced by panic as the Bradleys popped open and countless soldiers poured out. It might have been overkill for nearly five hundred soldiers to go chasing off after a bunch of kids, but those that had been forced to sit through the battle were itching to do something. If this was all they got today, then so be it. And if the sight of so many heavily armed men and women scared the crap out of two kids, well, maybe it'd teach them to not pull this kind of stunt in the future. It would be good for them.

* * *

By some random fluke of fate, the first day Shinji got back to school was also the first day Kensuke and Toji were returning. The reason for their absence was quickly made clear as Kensuke excitedly chatted about the battle to Shinji in a way that made it blindingly obvious he had witnessed it firsthand. Toji on the other hand looked sullen. Kensuke quickly became so when the trio entered the classroom and one Hikari Horaki got hold of them.

"Suzuhara! What the hell were you thinking!"

That he was going to go deaf from all the shouting was the thought that Toji wisely did not give voice to. Ever since their little stunt during the last battle he had been yelled at by an irate though quite comely JSSDF officer, his father, grandfather, sister, and now Hikari. Granted he probably deserved it for letting Kensuke talk him into trying to get a peek at the battle, but it seemed a tad unfair that the class rep was rounding out on him first instead of the true perpetrator of all this.

"Aw c'mon class rep, I'm already in enough trouble as it is," Toji begged. "Can't you just let others beat me up over this?"

"He does have a point there," Shinji put in and Toji shot his friend a grateful look. "I think even Toji's not going to be stupid enough to try something like that again, no matter what Kensuke says."

Their other friend on the other hand looked utterly betrayed.

"They didn't even let me keep my camera," he whined.

"And as for you Aida," Hikari snapped. "What were you thinking leaving the shelter at a time like that!? What if you had gotten hurt!"

"Hey, I knew Shinji could handle himself out there," Kensuke protested. "We were fine."

"Maybe this time," Shinji said before Hikari could blow up again. "But I can't be everywhere at once. If that Angel had decided to do something about those tanks shooting at it, well, I was kinda stuck."

"IFVs, Shinji," Kensuke corrected. "Those weren't tanks."

"Enough!" Hikari's palms slammed down on the desk, silencing all conversation in the classroom as everyone's attention became fixed on the irate class representative. "Suzuhara, Aida, from now on you two are barred from the school's chatrooms during class until you manage to get an 80 or better on ALL tests."

The two boys' jaws dropped and Shinji almost winced in sympathy with his friends.

"Aw c'mon class rep, that's completely unfair!" Toji cried.

"Yeah, I mean how do you expect Toji to pull that off!"

"Yeah-hey!"

"Well he has a point," Shinji said, this time turning his words against his friend instead of defending him. "You do tend to sleep through the afternoon classes. And some of the tests."

"Well wattabout you!" Toji pointed at Shinji. "You got a 40 on the last physics test!"

"Ikari-kun, is that true?" Hikari asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"I uh, haven't really been able to keep up with the classwork," Shinji said sheepishly even as he shot a glare at Toji, "what with all the NERV stuff I have to do."

Hikari sighed and massaged her temples before her eyes suddenly snapped open. Shinji could almost hear the ping! sound as an idea struck her.

"Well, seeing as all three of you obviously need help, it's my duty as the class representative to see that you get that help. Starting now, the three of you will be joining me for a study group once a week every week until such time as you get your grades up."

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?"

In a remarkable feat of synchronicity, Toji and Kensuke displayed a reaction that was simultaneous in both timing and expression.

"Or would you prefer to be locked out of the chatrooms for the rest of the term?"

Toji scowled a bit. "I could just sleep through all the classes."

For a moment Hikari looked unsure of herself but quickly buried it under a stern façade. It was a façade however and Shinji felt a sympathetic tug.

"Come on guys, it won't be that bad," Shinji said. "It's only once a week after all. How about a compromise, Toji and Kensuke can keep their chatroom privileges unless they screw up their next test, and in exchange they attend the study session?"

Hikari perked up a bit and immediately looked over at Toji. At this point even Kensuke could see it and gave his friend a pointed look. Toji however was either obfuscatingly stupid or selectively blind and simply looked at the other three in confusion. Finally he sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that ain't that bad. And if I get my grades up maybe my pa and sis'll stop nagging me."

The smile on Hikari's face this time was radiant and again Shinji felt his own heart thump a little. He felt strangely happy, and maybe even just a tiny bit jealous. Would a girl ever look at him that way? Well, Toji was his friend and Hikari seemed like a level headed and kind person. If in the process of getting his grades up he could help them along, that seemed a perfectly fair exchange.

* * *

"So, this is what an Angel looks like up close," Amanda commented idly.

"It's a remarkably intact specimen," Ritsuko said. "I expect we'll learn much about them thanks to Shinji-kun."

"Like how to kill them better."

"Well, that is the hope," the doctor said a tad unconvincingly. "It is a good thing we're getting a chance to study an Angel though, even if immediate applications are not readily apparent."

Amanda nodded. "I doubt Project E could be completed had we not gotten a sample like this."

Ritsuko regarded her old friend, reminding herself once more that Amanda Sommer was not all that she appeared to be. With a masters in operational logistics and a bachelors in industrial engineering, Amanda was more of an applied practitioner than a pure research scientist. Thus one would not expect her to be amongst the keepers of the true goal of Project E. She was however the favored granddaughter of Kiel Lorenz and rumored to be one of his more trusted instruments. That made her SEELE's watchdog and a future enemy once Gendo made his move. Sometimes Ritsuko cursed the fate that led her into such a tangled web.

"Oh right, you're having dinner with Misato tonight, right?"

Ritsuko nodded. "That was the plan. Are you and Soren planning on joining?"

"No, Soren's got another rehearsal and I need to have a few words with the HR department." Amanda reached into her pocket and took out an envelope. "Could you actually pass these along for me? They finally got them done."

A few hours later and after a long day of work, Ritsuko was finally sitting at the Katsuragi dining table.

"I'm amazed, this place looks so clean," Ritsuko said.

"Oh lay off already, I get enough of that from Amanda and Soren," Misato protested.

"How have they been doing?" Ritsuko asked. "With how busy things have been I haven't had a chance to catch up."

"Oh, they're fine," Misato replied. "We've started up our Sunday card games again, you're welcome to join in."

"Is that so? Well, if I can get my work under control I'll be sure to drop by."

"You do that," Misato said as she brought out a plate stacked with food.

Ritsuko looked at it and sniffed. "Is this, real food?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I was expecting something microwaved, at best."

"How rude, there's nothing wrong with readymade!"

"As a doctor, I'm afraid I have to disagree," Ritsuko said. "From where I stand, you're the one benefiting most from this cohabitation arrangement. Shinji-kun, you sure you don't want to move to a bigger place of your own? You can certain afford it."

"Ah it's okay," Shinji said as he came out with a dish of his own. "And besides, I've gotten used to having Misato-san around."

"See, humans are quite adept at adapting to their circumstances," Misato said cheerfully, beer in hand. "And remember, you're the guest here, so you should be grateful for our generosity."

"If you say so," Ritsuko said. "Oh yes, Shinji-kun, your permanent ID is finally ready."

Reaching into her purse, Ritsuko pulled out a two bright red cards and handed one to Shinji.

"Wow, that sure took a while," Misato commented. "Didn't think HR would need three weeks just to print a card."

"Amanda said much the same when she dropped them off," Ritsuko said. "I think she'll be making her displeasure known down there over the next couple of days."

Misato chuckled. "Good for her, those beancounters were always too uptight."

"Ah yes, Shinji-kun, could I ask a slight favor?"

"Huh? Oh, of course."

Ritsuko extended the second red card. "This is Rei's updated ID. Could you give it to her?"

Shinji accepted with a nod and examined the card. It was much like his with a name, birthdate, and some sort of ID code. The only real difference was the picture and Shinji could not help but stare at it. Rei's features were certainly distinct. Her pale skin seemed unnaturally white but the red eyes and blue hair were even stranger. Yet there was something familiar in those features, something almost, nostalgic.

"Oh what do we have here?" Misato said, interrupting Shinji's thoughts. "So why are you staring so intently at Rei's picture? Could our little Shinji-kun have a crush?"

"Wha-no, of course not," Shinji retorted defensively. "I just, wondered what she was like. I've never really talked to her."

Misato seemed on the verge of another joke but stopped herself. Instead she took a thoughtful sip of beer.

"Well, I suppose if you want to find out, you should try talking to her."

Shinji looked up at Misato in surprise but after considering those words a bit realized she was right. With that he simply nodded and slid the ID into his pocket. Neither of the apartment's residents noticed the worried look their guest cast upon them.

* * *

Amanda found Shinji standing outside of the lockers rubbing his cheek. There was a very faint redness there, the source of which was easy to guess considering Shinji was standing directly outside the women's locker. She sighed.

"Herr Ikari."

"Huh? Oh, Amanda-san."

Regarding Shinji with only one eye open, Amanda spoke. "Might I inquire as to what is going on?"

Shinji flushed and the reddening of his cheeks quickly overwhelming the imprint left behind by some outraged member of the fairer sex.

"I uh, got into an argument with Ayanami," Shinji said, not able to meet Amanda's eye.

"That's interesting," Amanda said. "I don't recall Rei ever holding much of a conversation with anyone much less get angry at them. You're breaking new ground, Herr Ikari."

"I, said I didn't believe in my father," Shinji said. "She got mad at me for that."

I know, Amanda did not say. This was an especially delicate moment, where she needed to assure Shinji that his frustration and anger at his father was not out of place and yet not drive a wedge between him and the First Child. It said much of Soren's belief in her that he trusted her to do this right, not that he had much of a choice in the matter considering their respective covers. But even so, Amanda had no intention of betraying that trust and would do her damnedest to make sure Shinji and Rei established that connection the two desperately needed. And prayed it would not interfere with another relationship that was equally, if not more important to her, in the future.

Leaning over, Amanda got level with Shinji's eyes. "Do you know what happened during Unit 00's previous activation test?"

Shinji nodded.

"Your father did something you never expected him to do," Amanda said. "He showed that he cared enough to endanger himself to help someone. And you're angry that that someone wasn't you."

Shinji blinked and looked at Amanda in surprise. The woman smiled and ruffled his hair.

"I'm not going to tell you whether it's right or wrong to be angry, but remember who you're angry with, Shinji. Does Rei deserve to be thought badly of by you just because she's near your father?"

Slowly, Shinji shook his head. "I don't even really know her."

"Well in that case, you should-"

"Talk to her," Shinji grunted. "Misato-san said that last night."

"Did she now?"

A nod and another stroking of the imprint on his cheek. Amanda chuckled.

"Shinji, I doubt Rei actually hates you or anything. She might not even understand why she hit you. But think a bit about why she might reacted that way. Do you know of anyone else out there for Rei? If someone badmouthed Misato, would you have stood for it?"

The boy's fists clenched but his voice was firm. "No."

Amanda nodded. "Rei might feel the same way, because the commander might be the only one there for her. Loneliness is a painful thing, Shinji, you already know that. Do you think you could leave her be if she felt alone like that?"

This time Shinji shook his head, still resolute. Amanda rewarded him with a proud smile. And then the klaxons began blaring in the base.

"All hands to battle stations, unidentified object approaching Tokyo-3!"

Shinji looked about in alarm but snapped his attention back to Amanda when the woman clapped his shoulder.

"Do your best, Shinji."

Shinji blinked, then nodded. "I will."

End Chapter 2

I wonder if I'll get any dirty looks for ending the chapter at that point in time, seeing as we all know what's about to happen next. Please feel free to express yourselves in your reviews. :P

And here I thought I was being too subtle at times. I wonder if anyone will be able to guess who Midori Kayabuki was/is.

In regard to the question of how 'Soren' and 'Margaret' are able to pass for Germans, the short answer is Instrumentality. The long answer, you'll have to wait until much later in the story. In regard to the comment about the accuracy of the description, I can see why some might find it inaccurate. After all, so far you my readers have only seen maybe 10% of the actual story and in that 10% it might not be really clear as to what Instrumentality has to do with all of this. I assure you however that it does play a pretty major role and I think at this point people might be able to guess that that role is. Nevertheless I've tweaked the description a bit to try and make some things a bit clearer. We'll see if it draws more people in.

Last time around I said that my other reason for not publishing as I complete chapters was to string along readers. That is not entirely true anymore. At this point chapters 3 through 5 are effectively complete and I've written a good chunk of chapter 6. As I write more however I often find myself going back to tweak parts or add additional scenes to previous chapters. As a consequence chapter 3 is at this point 30% longer than when it was when I moved onto chapter 4 originally. I may yet shuffle some things around, but the added content will show up someplace. That of course means more stuff for you to read in the long run, even if you have to wait for a period of time before getting the new chapters themselves.

As a final aside, the way I portray the battles is likely to be different than how many other fics do so. We've all read rehashes of the Angel battles and each author has to do something to try and not make it tiresome to wade through. Some do so by completely changing the sequence, others try to add more details. I'll almost certainly be doing more of the former, but for battles that I do not intend to have major changes in, well, the most accurate description for what I intend to do is to say I'll be skipping them. They'll still happen and you'll get commentary about them after the fact, but I really don't feel like wasting my or your time describing a chain of events that is not different from the series proper.

Anyway, drop me a note to let me know what you guys think so far.

Z


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Feroce

The scream that filled the radio was nearly unbearable and the men and women manning the command center scrambled to do something, anything to help the young man being burned out there. Amanda grit her teeth, trying to tell herself that this was unavoidable, that the pain Shinji suffered now would make him a stronger, better man. It made the cries no easier to endure.

"Deploy the blast armor!" Misato ordered.

In front of the EVA, a massive sheet of thick armor shot up and intercepted the beam. The block held and the attack petered out. The reprieve did not last long. On the main feed, the Angel's form shifted into a pair of thin overlapping pyramidal hourglasses. The outer ends began spinning and a point equidistant from the edges in front of the construct flared up. The burst of energy that erupted was overwhelming and completely engulfed the armor plate. That defense literally disintegrated from the bombardment, leaving Unit 01 completely vulnerable once more. The screaming returned, even louder than before.

"Abort the operation!" Misato shouted. "Emergency recovery of the EVA unit!"

"We can't!" Makoto cried back helplessly. "The catapult's melted! We can't retract it!"

Misato looked at the flow of status reports in horror. There had to be something they could do to get Shinji out of there.

"Force eject the entry plug, get him out of there!"

"Belay that order," a cold voice cut in.

Spinning around, Misato stared at Commander Ikari in shock. Before she could erupt though Ritsuko intervened.

"If the pilot is removed, the AT Field will disappear," she said. "Without it, nothing will stop that beam."

Misato cringed. She was running out of options, there had to be some way to-she spun around.

"Blow the emergency bolts! Bring the entire block down!"

"Ma'am!"

This time the commander did not countermand the order, though if he had Amanda was pretty sure Misato would have shot the man. Seconds later distant explosions rang and the EVA and its surroundings began sinking. As the block disappeared into the hanger complex, the beam dissipated. The Angel's structure rippled a bit before snapping closed into its original diamond form.

"Get the Third Child into triage immediately," Ritsuko ordered.

"I'm going down there now," Misato said.

"Misato!" Ritsuko called out disapprovingly.

"He needs me!" Misato snapped back.

"Hauptmann!" Amanda called out, stopping Misato in her tracks. "Your duty is here! Shinji is being looked after, what could you do to help?"

Misato flinched but before she could recover Amanda pressed on.

"I'll go down there myself," she said. "You stay here and deal with that damn Angel. Pay it back for what it did to Shinji."

Misato glared at Amanda but eventually nodded. The anger and worry was still there but it was more focused now, focused on the thing that had nearly taken Shinji away from them. Amanda gave her friend one last glance before stepping off the command deck. Her own mind was racing. She knew Shinji would be fine and assuming they had not miss-stepped would be ready and even willing to get back in the EVA. In some ways they were trying to manipulate Shinji as much as his father, yet there was a difference in what they each sought from the boy. Not once while under attack did Shinji call out for help, to beg to be saved by his father or anyone else. Amanda smiled. He was growing.

* * *

"You know that this plan of yours is rather reckless, Chief of Operations Katsuragi Misato?"

Misato glanced back at her friend with a playful frown. "Reckless seems a bit rude. We can pull it off in the nine hours we've got left and it's the best shot we've got."

"It's certainly got the Katsuragi flare," Amanda put in as she followed alongside Ritsuko. "That's got to count for something."

"Your confidence is so assuring," Misato shot back.

"To divert energy from all over Japan to power the JSSDF's experimental positron cannon for a long range shot," Ritsuko said as the three crossed one of the makeshift roads being used to haul transformers and capacitors up the mountain, "and of course since it's not complete yet and cannot be used standalone, we're modifying it to be fired by the EVA."

"This is turning out to be a logistical nightmare," Amanda muttered, looking down at her tablet.

"And you have my sincerest thanks for helping with the workload," Misato said.

"Still, the UN was one thing," Ritsuko said, glancing at Amanda. "How did you manage to convince the Home Affairs Ministry and the JSSDF?"

"Well, let's just say they owed me a few favors," Misato said nonchalantly.

"Us," Amanda muttered. "They owed us a few favors."

Misato chuckled nervously. "Yeah, us."

The trio of women stepped up to the platform and gazed out at the city. Even from here the Angel was visible.

"Now all that's left is the pilot," Misato said softly.

* * *

Shinji's eyes snapped open only to squint as the harsh light stunned them. Blinking a few times, things came into focus and he found himself staring at a white, not entirely unfamiliar ceiling. He instinctively reached for his chest, feeling for the hole he just knew had to be there. Nothing. His body was whole and his skin smooth to the touch, even if it felt more sensitive than before. And then he looked up and finally noticed the young woman seated at his bedside. Shinji nearly jumped out of bed, which in retrospect would have made things even more awkward due to a certain lack of covering.

"Ayanami!" he yipped. "What are you doing here!?"

"I am here to brief you on Operation Yashima," Rei said with no preamble. "Pilots Ikari and Ayanami are to report to terminal 2 at 19:30. At 20:00, Unit 01 and Unit 00 will be deployed. Launch is scheduled at 20:05. Arrival at the 2nd Futagoyama fortress is expected by 20:30. Once there further orders will be provided. At midnight the operation will commence."

Shinji just stared dumbly at Rei as she listed off the timetable and continued gazing at her as she stood and lifted a cover on the cart to reveal a remarkably edible looking meal.

"Your food," Rei said.

Shinji blinked. "Umm, thank you."

"We leave in 90 minutes," Rei said. "A change of clothes is also here."

Rei then picked up her bag and headed for the door. Instinctively, Shinji lurched forward.

"Ayanami!"

"Goodbye," Rei said as the door slid shut behind her.

Shinji looked at that door for what seemed like an eternity before finally shaking himself. He needed to get going, try to figure out had happened since the battle. Too bad he hadn't thought of just asking Rei when he had the chance. As he started getting out of bed, he looked down and grimaced. Clothes first then food, no matter how tempting the smell was. Once dressed, he looked at the tray and noticed a notecard wedged in between the plates.

Guten appetit.

Soren

Shinji smiled. Apparently the older man had been the one responsible for the meal. He would need to remember to thank him.

An hour later the door to the room opened again to reveal Misato. Shinji looked up in surprise at seeing his guardian here personally.

"Misato-san."

The woman walked over and suddenly enveloped him in a hug. Shinji got out a single ack of surprise before finding his face buried in her ample bosom.

"I'm glad you're okay, Shinji-kun," Misato said.

While Shinji was not quite suffocating, it could not be denied that he was very distracted by his present circumstances. When Misato finally released him his face was flushed for more than one reason.

"How are you feeling?" Misato asked.

"Umm, okay," Shinji said. "But, what's going on Misato-san? I guess, the Angel's still there?"

Misato nodded gravely. "It was a lot more powerful than we anticipated. We have a plan to take it down, but we'll need your help."

"So, I'll need to pilot the EVA again."

"Yes," Misato said softly. "I'm sorry, Shinji-kun, but-"

"That's alright Misato-san," Shinji said with a slight smile. "I'll do it. I'm the pilot of Unit 01, right?"

Misato returned the smile, the pride she felt swelling through. "C'mon, Shinji-kun. Let's get this over with."

* * *

Despite everything Shinji was still a 14 year old boy on the precipice of adolescence. Despite his fear and overall timid nature, he was not completely repressed and so it was hard not to sneak glances at the figure on the other side of the way too thin sheet. Rei for her part apparently did not give him a second thought and her silhouette was clearly visible. When she pulled up the plug suit it got muddled a bit, but as it hissed closed her form came into sharp focus. Shinji's face flushed once more.

"Ayanami," Shinji said, as much to distract himself as to get her attention. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

Much like most of her other answers, this one was direct and literal. Shinji finished putting on the A10 connectors and followed Rei outside.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Of what?"

"Of dying," Shinji said. "Every time we go out to fight an Angel, we might not come back."

"That's alright," Rei replied. "No one would miss me if I died."

Shinji blinked. Before he could ask what she meant, Rei headed off to her own unit. Shinji stood there staring at her shrinking form, his mind reverberating with her declaration. No one would miss me. Not long ago, he might well have thought the same thing. Now little by little, that thought came less and less.

"Shinji-kun?"

Shinji turned around and saw Misato approach him.

"Misato-san?"

When she reached him she held out an audio recorder.

"Before you go, this message was left with NERV's PR department. I thought you should hear it."

Shinji nodded and accepted it. As he brought it up to his ear, he hit play.

"Hey, Shinji, it's Toji," the message began. "Just wanted to let you know, we're counting on you."

Shinji smiled. Even after what had happened, Toji was giving him his vote of confidence.

"Kensuke here," another voice sounded. "We know you can do it man, we're all rooting for you down here!"

It was nice, knowing his friends believed in him. And even if they might be exaggerating a bit, that the rest of the class might also believe in him meant that much more. Then, a third unexpected voice spoke up.

"Umm, Ikari-kun? This is Horaki. I just wanted to say, thank you for everything you've already done. And, thank you for what you've done for us as well."

That, was utterly unexpected and Shinji stood planted there motionless for a few seconds. Then his smile returned and he handed the recorder back to his guardian.

"Thank you, Misato-san."

"Come back to us, Shinji," Misato said. "Come back to all of us."

"I will," Shinji assured. "And I'll make sure Ayanami does too."

Now it was Misato's turn to look surprised. But she gave Shinji an approving smile and one last hug. It was almost time.

* * *

Kayabuki was a tad unsure just what the blazes her unit was doing here, the current Angel had demonstrated it was capable of basically vaporizing anything that caught its attention and the mountain she and the rest of her battalion were hiding behind did not offer any reassurances whatsoever. They were ostensibly on security detail, making sure nothing got in the way of the two EVAs that would be using this route to get to the gigantic sniper nest being set up. Kayabuki had a very basic idea of what NERV was going to attempt, mostly from offhand whining from one of her superiors about the organization's high handedness in seizing the JSSDF's new toy for itself, and the sheer galls of the plan was impressive. Whether it would work was another matter entirely.

"Ma'am? We're seeing some activity in sector three."

Letting her feet drop from where they were propped up on the command console, Kayabuki pulled herself out into the open and gazed through her binoculars towards the location. She sighed.

"Those two again. And they've brought reinforcements."

"Should we detain them?" Kudo asked.

Scanning the gathered students, Kayabuki saw that they had come prepared with flags and even a large banner.

2-A STANDS WITH OUR PILOTS!

Oh hell, that made this a much harder call, Kayabuki grimaced. Finally she shook her head.

"Get me my megaphone."

Kudo dutifully pulled the device in question out of safekeeping, a responsibility delegated to him to keep the lieutenant-colonel from using it to scream at people too much.

"STUDENTS CURRENTLY CAMPED ALONG THE EVA TRANSFER ROUTE, YOU WILL HAVE FIVE MINUTES AFTER THE EVAS TRANSIT TO RETURN TO THE SHELTERS BEFORE I AM REQUIRED TO TAKE NOTICE OF YOUR PRESENCE. DO NOT PUSH MY PATIENCE."

Kudo and quite a few other soldiers looked at Kayabuki in surprise but with the smiles that appeared on some of them no one was about to protest their superior's bending of the rules. If the shouts carrying across the mountain were any indication, the students were even more appreciative.

"THANK YOU LADY-COLONEL!"

"SORRY ABOUT THE LAST TIME!"

Kayabuki chuckled as she handed the megaphone back to Kudo. "Damn kids."

* * *

Amanda watched the countdown from the Geofront's command center. The majority of the senior operators were over by the EVAs, leaving the secondary watch staff to man the stations here. The three women that sat on the command deck itself were all skilled individuals, it was just that the normal occupants were that competent that these three were forced to play second fiddle. Still, today Amanda found nothing lacking in their responses and actions.

"Diversionary attacks have begun!" Kaede Agano reported. "The Angel is retaliating!"

Just like that one of the hills outside Tokyo-3 was vaporized along with the missile silos buried in it. Other sites lit off in rapid succession and were just as quickly wiped from existence. The strategy being employed against the Fifth Angel was costly and Tokyo-3 was basically being stripped of its conventional defenses in the process, but it was absolutely paramount that the Angel not become aware of the ace up NERV's sleeve. That it would leave the city almost completely defenseless against future attacks, Angels or otherwise, was a problem for if they defeated this one.

"Final connections complete, capacitors and flywheels fully charged!" Satsuki Ooi said.

"Fire!"

Misato's command barely had time to carry back to HQ before a brilliant lance of pure light lashed out from the horizon. It took perhaps a second to cross the distance to Tokyo-3 and punched seemingly effortlessly through the Angel's AT-field. The Angel itself simply froze, as if unable to believe what had happened as the positron beam sliced through its heart and detonated in a spectacular annihilation reaction. Cheers swept through the base as the Angel's form clamped back into its diamond form and a gush of red liquid erupted through its rear. However, three individuals on the command deck made no move to join the celebrations.

"Did we get it!?" Misato's voice shouted over the radio.

That answer came almost immediately after.

"Massive energy reaction detected inside the Angel!" Maya shouted.

"We missed!? How!"

"Were we off with the timing!?" Makoto cried out.

"Shinji-kun, look out!"

Amanda winced as the Angel shifted form again, folding over and over into a star-like shape. Then it fired and an entire mountain melted away from the onslaught of its fury. The connection with the remote command team disappeared in a sea of static and panic erupted across the bridge.

"Control yourselves!" Amanda shouted, her voice somehow carrying over all the other cries. "This isn't over yet!"

At that very moment the video feed from the command trailer was reestablished and Amanda watched as Misato picked herself up. The captain was banged up a bit but seemed determined not to slow down.

"The energy system?" she asked.

"It's still online, we're recharging already," Makoto reported.

"And the positron cannon?"

"It's intact and the barrel's cooling already," Maya replied. "But we don't know if it'll fire again."

"Doesn't matter," Misato said, "we don't have a choice. Prepare for second shot. Shinji-kun, are you okay? We need you to get the cannon back into position."

Over the radio the sounds of a young man in utter pain could be heard. He was sobbing uncontrollably and no one could be sure whether he had heard anything from them.

"Shinji-kun?" Misato repeated.

Then the EVA shifted, slowly rising to its knees before crawling over to the cannon.

"Roger," Shinji got out, still sobbing but an edge of hard determination echoing in his voice.

Misato grimaced but knew that there was nothing she could do for her charge. Only he could pilot the EVA, only he could pick up the cannon, and only he could take a second shot. All she could do was make sure there was a second shot to take.

"Alright Shinji-kun, one more time," she said. "We're entrusting you with all the power in Japan, with our hopes, our dreams, our future. With the future of all humanity and every creature still living. You can do it."

A brief moment passed as the sobbing died down. "Understood."

"Barrel is back in position!"

"Energy links reestablished, recharging!"

"G-type equipment damaged, purging now. Switching over to manual targeting."

Up above Central Dogma, the Angel's drill finally breached the last layer of armor and penetrated into the Geofront. Amanda felt the slight tremors as some of the buildings cracked and fell down around HQ but her attention was squarely fixed on the video feeds. It was now or never.

"Fuse replaced, barrel cooling complete."

A flurry of other reports flooded the radio as preparations for a second shot reached completion. The seconds ticked down, but time was not on their side.

"High energy signature detected in the Angel!" Maya cried out.

"Damn it!" Misato cursed.

Another burst of flame and fury erupted from the Angel and the sniping position exploded once more. Amanda grit her teeth as suddenly Unit 00 stepped forth, bracing itself against the massive heat shield.

"Ayanami!"

Shinji's panicked cry was not the only one as the staff frantically counted down until the cannon was charged for a second shot. There was no chance of them making it however as the shield began buckling under the intense heat, then cracked, before outright disintegrating. Yet Unit 00 held its ground, using its own body to shield the other EVA and the positron cannon that was their only hope.

"Ayanami!"

Ten more seconds, ten more seconds of this hell before they could respond. Amanda held her gaze on the scene before her, refusing to look away from this display of raw courage and determination. Whatever her personal feelings, Rei Ayanami deserved to have her bravery witnessed in full. And then, it happened.

"AT-field!"

There was a half second of confusion to that cry, of course there was an AT-field out there, the EVAs would have been long destroyed otherwise. Yet what they now saw was something else entirely. The particle beam from the Angel suddenly lost cohesion, spraying its energy in futility against an AT-field of unparalleled strength. The Absolute Territory field was exactly that, creating a zone that nothing could exist or cross without the willingness of whatever generated it. The field that now shielded Unit 00 took this to its logical endpoint, stilling every particle, every wave, and every form of matter or energy that dared intrude upon its zone.

"Unit 01's drawing in power from the energy system!" Maya cried out.

"His sync ratio, that's impossible!" Ritsuko exclaimed.

Back in HQ, Amanda felt her jaw drop as the feed from Shinji's entry plug went berserk. Though she was too stunned to look back, upon reflection Amanda would not have been at all surprised if Gendo and Fuyutsuki had similar reactions as the system reported an utterly impossible 400% sync ratio. Outside on the battlefield, Unit 01 roared as its eyes opened once more. They flared for one bright moment and the Fifth Angel Ramiel had in that moment the experience of being subject to the wrath of an awakened Evangelion. Its core shattered.

The next moment, Shinji's sync ratio crashed back down and Unit 01 scrambled toward the battered Unit 00. Amanda watched as Shinji dropped the other EVA into a nearby lake, which damn near evaporated completely into steam upon contact. Assured that that part of the scenario was unfolding according to plan, the woman glanced back up to where the commander and vice-commander were. Fuyutsuki was leaning over whispering something into Gendo's ear and from what little Amanda could make out he was demanding to know how the younger man was going to handle this particular twist.

That was a good question, one Amanda herself would need to find an answer to. Brief as it was Shinji had managed to tap into the true power of an Evangelion, even if he needed to draw upon all the energy in Japan to do so. This was far, far earlier than the original scenario called for and would make her own job that much more complicated.

"Dummkopf," Amanda muttered.

Turning back about, Amanda watched the video feeds again. Rei had one arm around Shinji as the young man helped her towards the oncoming response personnel. Upon meeting up he was immediately relieved of the girl, who was promptly laid down on a gurney. Shinji himself got hauled onto one despite what looked like some halfhearted protests, though he remained sitting up as he got wheeled away with the First Child. That much had not changed. What was different however was the dozens upon dozens of NERV personnel that turned to face the two children as they passed, all of them saluting or bowing. That elicited a slight smile from Amanda. There were worse ways the staff of NERV could see the Children than as the heroes they were, after all.

* * *

Soren looked out at the corpse Ramiel left behind as he stood upon the deserted roof. With a sigh he massaged his brow in a mix of exasperation and exhaustion. SEELE was going to be very antsy about what had happened here and might decide to take more proactive measures to keep Gendo under control. That was the last thing they needed however and hopefully Amanda would be able to spin this into some good news from their perspective. There was no way the collective could move up its own timetable as unfortunately the Angels absolutely needed to be defeated and until then NERV and SEELE's continued existence was a necessity.

There was always the chance that they might be unable to minimize the damage as much as they had hoped, but all of them had agreed that preventing Third Impact took greater precedence than personal feelings or attachments. That did not make it any easier though. Casting one last look at the dead Angel, Soren sighed and stepped back into the shadows. Nowhere upon that roof did he emerge again this night.

* * *

The First Child's body still ached a bit even after a night of sleep but Rei presumed that eventually the discomfort would cease and her sensations would normalize. Rei sat up and examined her form. No obvious signs of injury, though while damage done to the EVA was sympathetic only at very high levels of synchronization would wounds actually manifest on a pilot's own body.

A gentle knock interrupted Rei's contemplation and the door slid open halfway.

"Ayanami?" a timid voice called out as Shinji looked into the room. He flushed immediately and spun around. "I'm sorry!"

Rei blinked in confusion and then recalled a similar reaction when the Third Child had visited her to deliver her new ID card. The commonality between the two events was her state of undress so that was the likely source of the other pilot's distress this time as well.

"Umm, I just wanted to see how you were doing," Shinji said, still turned away from Rei.

"I am fine," Rei said.

"That, that's good," Shinji sputtered out. "I was a bit worried that'd you'd still be hurt from yesterday."

"The Angel was defeated before substantial damage could be inflicted upon Unit 00," Rei said almost clinically.

"But not fast enough to keep you from getting hurt," Shinji said.

While that was true, to Rei it was only one truth amongst many.

"Battles are inherently chaotic. There are never guarantees. To succeed requires the ability to adapt and overcome such challenges. That you emerged victorious indicates you possess that ability."

"We emerged victorious, Ayanami," Shinji said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

That, Rei reflected, was also true. However she found herself unable to compose a response. Fortunately Shinji did it for her.

"Thank you," he said, turning toward her but eyes downcast in a bow so that he did not inadvertently look upon her form.

Rei felt something stir in her, something akin to what she had experienced when the Third Child forced open her entry plug and proclaimed that she was unique, that her life meant something. And so she did what she had done then. She smiled.

"You are welcome."

* * *

"This was not in the scenario," SEELE 02 exclaimed in an almost accusatory tone.

The woman seated at the center of the circle of slabs was not intimidated in the least.

"Only a fool believes he has absolute control when the variables at play are as volatile as human beings," Amanda said. "The only question that matters is whether Instrumentality itself is beyond reach because of this deviation. I think you all know the answer."

It must have been quite the experience for the members of SEELE to have someone talking back at them with such confidence, regardless of what that person's familial connections were. But that did not make Amanda's words any less true no matter how much their very human pride might have wanted to insist otherwise.

"The deviation however cannot be ignored," SEELE 01 said, half chiding and half reminding his granddaughter that she had ultimately been entrusted to minimize such occurrences. And the premature awakening of Unit 01 was not any minor deviation either.

"Of course," Amanda said. "But we must keep in mind the basic facts. Ikari knows the exact steps and tools needed to initiate Instrumentality. There is little doubt that he is preparing variants of his own outside of our control. There are however several instruments that he cannot reproduce, that he must wrest from our control. Furthermore for those instruments that he can duplicate, or at least create usable facsimiles of, he will almost certainly try to eliminate those in our possession."

For a bunch of blank, mostly featureless monoliths it was amazing how their uneasy fidgeting could be carried through the silence that fell.

"You have a plan," 01 stated.

Amanda nodded. "Unit 01 is a critical piece to Instrumentality and Ikari was likely hoping to use his son to control it, or to at least eliminate any chance of us controlling it. If however we can manipulate the younger Ikari to our ends, then we erode the elder Ikari's ability to manipulate the scenario."

The idea was audacious if not outright dangerous and the conservative, nearly ossified mentalities of the SEELE council likely would have descended into apoplexy had Kiel not burst out into laughter. The display of emotion was so unexpected that even Amanda was slightly taken aback.

"A most daring gamble," 01 boomed. "Nevertheless, the path to godhood often demands that we overcome such trials. Proceed."

Amanda bowed her head in acknowledgment, knowing that the only approval that mattered here was Kiel's. With his backing the other council members would fall into line whatever their misgivings.

Some might have found it so strange that Kiel would have invested such faith into the woman, regardless of their blood ties. What did they not realize however was the vigor, conviction, and sheer confidence Kiel saw in his granddaughter. Here was someone that saw Instrumentality as not only a birthright, it was an inevitability that nothing would stop. Such strength of belief fueled a will that would lead humanity to apotheosis regardless of the cost. When the time came and hard decisions needed to be made, Amanda would make them without flinching. And if she was not there to make them, well, Kiel had not given his blessing for her marriage purely out of sentiment after all. Had he been forced to pick someone whose conviction was even greater than his granddaughter's, the choice was almost too easy. Kiel allowed himself a slight smile. He could almost pity Gendo Ikari, that man would soon be learning just what stakes were at play here.

* * *

"Umm, are we done yet?"

It would be unfair to accuse Shinji Ikari of being someone who whined too much. Sure there were instances where the boy had acted with less maturity or good judgment than the adults around him might have wished for, but for the most part his own passivity generally meant he simply went along with whatever was asked of him with nary a complaint. Amanda's efforts to stiffen the young man's backbone was making some measurable progress but he was still far from being an arrogant and self-centered brat, a notable difference from another certain EVA pilot that many people were grateful for. Not that Asuka had not also mellowed out a little bit after five years of having the same UN Auditor-General and her husband breathing down her neck. Still, even Shinji's patience could wear thin and the endless battery of tests that he had been subjected to since the Fifth Angel's defeat was getting a bit tiresome.

For Ritsuko Akagi the same wearing down of her endurance was occurring, albeit for different reasons. Somehow during the battle Shinji had diverted all of the energy meant for the positron cannon into his own EVA, then used that power to generate an AT-field of absolutely staggering nullification before somehow blasting apart Ramiel's core. Add on top of that his 400% sync ratio and there were simply too many unanswered questions left in the aftermath of their victory. Granted Shinji had held that ratio for maybe a second, two at the most, but that he did it and came back to them was nothing short of astounding. As a scientist Ritsuko did not like mysteries. Oh sure she often welcomed a good challenge, but when something that defied all known theories and what previous data insisted to be impossible happened, she felt almost mortally offended. The laws of science were not meant to be tossed and ignored willy-nilly damnation.

"Almost Shinji-kun," Ritsuko said, hiding her frustration behind a polite tone. "We just need to take a few more readings and then you can go home."

"I have practice with Amanda-san after this actually," Shinji said. "And I really shouldn't be late for that."

That was right, Ritsuko reminded herself. Amanda was teaching Shinji karate, as much to help the boy bolster his physical endurance as to build up some self-confidence in him. And seeing as the UN Auditor-General seemed to have made it her personal mission to see Shinji Ikari grow into a more confident and capable young man it probably was not a good idea to let Amanda start thinking Ritsuko was interfering with that, old friends or not. Still, Ritsuko could not help but wonder if Amanda's interest in the Third Child belayed some kind of interest SEELE might have.

"Alright Shinji-kun," Ritsuko finally said. "That should be enough for now. You should be free for the rest of the week beyond the usual sync tests. Good work."

Twenty minutes later Shinji was in the gym again.

"Good evening Shinji," Amanda greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Umm, good, sensei." Shinji adjusted his gi a bit. "My skin still feels a bit itchy though."

Amanda nodded. "Your body still remembers the battle. Well, I'll just have to sweat it out of you."

For the next hour and a half that was exactly what Amanda did. By now Shinji had a grasp of the basic stances and movements and was beginning to understand the subtleties of how his body held itself. That awareness was still raw and unrefined however and so it took considerable concentration to position each part of his body in just the right way. Amanda assured him that over time what now took so much focus would simply become natural as his body's muscle memory became ingrained with each stance and motion. What was important now was to train his body to be able to perform each action, to hold each pose, and to learn how to slide between each position. As exhausting as the warmup and conditioning could be, once they moved onto techniques and form work Shinji found himself falling into a sort of calm contemplation. His mind was still hard at work absorbing every little thing Amanda commented upon but Shinji felt almost no anxiety throughout.

"You've come a long way, Shinji," Amanda praised him as they finished going through the first kata.

"No, I still have a lot to learn," Shinji said sheepishly.

To his surprise Amanda gave him a slightly ungentle bop on the head.

"Word of advice when the Second Child gets here, Shinji," she said. "Turn down the humility a notch or two, otherwise she'll end up running right over you."

"The Second Child?" Shinji said as he nursed his head.

Amanda nodded. "Asuka Langley Shikinami, the Second Child identified by the Marduk Institute as capable of piloting an Evangelion. She's trained for nearly a decade for it."

"Wow," Shinji said. "I suppose then that she's really good?"

"Well it's all relative," Amanda said. "You and Rei are the only ones that have gone into battle against Angels and you went in without any training against Sachiel." The woman chuckled. "Asuka's reaction to that news must have been quite the sight."

"Excuse me?"

"Asuka, lives for piloting the EVA," Amanda said, phrasing the comment in a way that made clear to Shinji that she was trying to be tactful. "As I said she's trained for years and between her and Mari, Asuka has almost always maintained the higher sync ratio. The few times that Mari edged close or god forbid outright beat her, Asuka came back with a vengeance."

"Oh," Shinji said. "I, didn't know there were people who enjoyed piloting."

Amanda gave Shinji a thoughtful look. "Aren't you happy when we tell you you've done a good job?"

"Huh, umm, well, yes."

"Is that so very different than Asuka?"

Shinji blinked. "You mean, she pilots so others acknowledge her?"

That was a remarkably insightful observation for the Third Child to make, Amanda mused. "Well, I would never say that to her face, but that about boils it down. In some ways, you and her are quite alike. That similarity's likely to cause some friction when you two first meet, but if you get past that I think you two will get along very well."

Or you damn well better, Amanda thought. Otherwise I'd have wasted all this time trying to give you a backbone.

"Oh, I see," Shinji said as he nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'll try, sensei."

"Good," Amanda said. "Oh, one thing Shinji."

"Yes sensei?"

Amanda bent over and looked him squarely in the eye. "I've spent the last five years trying to get Asuka to mellow out a bit. I will be most aggrieved if you end up undoing any of that work. Am I understood?"

Shinji swallowed and nodded nervously.

The smile that Amanda gave him was not reassuring in the least. "Good. Now, let's get back to practice. You know how I've been telling you to watch my movements as we go over kata and techniques? Well, we're going to extend a bit upon that today. I want you to watch closely and try to predict what my next move will be based on how my body moves. This will be very useful when sparring with someone, since if you can figure out what they intend to do next you can prepare yourself for it or even counter them."

* * *

One of her responsibilities as Auditor-General at NERV-Tokyo was a once a month interview with select members of NERV personnel. Beyond the various section heads and senior command officers, a random selection of personnel from the rank and file were also called up to have a little chat with Amanda. Most of these chats lasted little more than half an hour at most and they usually served more as an opportunity for people to gripe about some minor inconvenience or complication that was part of their job, but those same quibbles gave Amanda a good feel for the general mood of the base and sometimes also unearthed problems that had yet to make it up the chain of command. As such Amanda considered these little one-on-one sessions to be an important part of her toolkit.

Of course everyone's schedule being what they were the interviews tended to be spread out across the entire month. From time to time however two interviews would end up side to side to each other and as Amanda concluded her little chat with the head of Section-2, a gentle knock sounded on her office door.

"Come in," Amanda said.

The door slid open to reveal First Lieutenant Maya Ibuki, assistant chief of NERV's technical division.

"Oh, excuse me," Maya said as she caught sight of the other person sitting in Amanda's office.

"Not at all," Amanda said, "we were just wrapping things up. Well Hauptmann Aramaki, barring anything unexpected I will see you next month."

"Of course, Sommer-san."

Keitaro Aramaki stood and made his way out of the office. At the door he paused and glanced over at Maya.

"I'll pick you up at five tonight."

"Oh, right," Maya said before a furious blush came over her face. "Oh you, get back to work!"

Aramaki laughed playfully as he let Maya chase him off. Once he was gone the lieutenant took a deep breath before turning to face Amanda again. Her face was still flushed.

"Umm…"

"Hmm? Oh don't worry," Amanda said cheerfully. "Neither of you are in the same direct chain of command so I have no reason to take any official notice."

Letting out a sigh of relief Maya entered the office and bowed. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Please, have a seat."

Maya did so and just as she was starting to relax Amanda leaned forward with a deadpan face. "So, how long you two been dating?"

A squeak escaped Maya. "Sommer-san!"

"What, a girl can ask can't she?" Amanda said with a wide grin.

"Well, but, still!"

At this Amanda could not help but laugh at the frantic reaction of her coworker. "Sorry, sorry, I don't mean to tease. But try to remember that I've done that dance myself. If you ever feel the need to talk, I'm here for you."

Maya smiled more calmly. "Thank you Sommer-san."

"Now, let's get this out of the way," Amanda said, "wouldn't want to make you late for your date."

Maya puffed her cheeks out in an adorable pout. "I thought you weren't going to tease, Sommer-san."

"You're no fun," Amanda retorted.

"I'm starting to see why you get along so well with Captain Katsuragi," Maya said, then grinned.

And Amanda could see just why Aramaki had been attracted to the young woman, even if she felt the urge to kick his ass for this. The entire point of their insertion was to enter seamlessly without creating any unnecessary entanglements. Now there was at least one heart that would be broken when everything was over. No, not broken, Aramaki would never betray Maya like that. But he would still end up tearing a gaping hole in her heart when everything was over. What was done was done however and Amanda had no intention of making this any harder than it would be. They deserved this little bit of happiness after all.

"But anyway, let's get down to business. I was most impressed with the after-action analysis you performed on the Fourth and Fifth Angels, Ibuki-san."

"Oh, thank you ma'am."

"On that subject, do you think you could elaborate for me your theory about the Angels' anti-gravity mechanism?"

"Well, I termed it anti-gravity for convenience purposes," Maya said as she recalled the report from memory. "We're still not quite sure how the Angels were able to simply float around like that. The dissection of the Fourth Angel only finished recently and we're still trying to dismantle the Fifth."

Amanda nodded. "Yes, I've seen the precise for those reports as well. The makeup of the Angels is quite fascinating."

The technician's own nod was considerably more enthusiastic. "That's right! We're still not really finding any correlations with what we would think to be normal biology. The Angels don't seem to have a digestive system as we would recognize it, all their energy needs seem to be provided by their core."

"Which would explain why destroying the core kills an Angel," Amanda said. "Without a source of energy, something as large as an Angel would not be able to sustain its form. What about a nervous system? Any luck there?"

Maya frowned. "Well, yes and no. We found the equivalent of a circulatory system for providing energy to the rest of the Fourth Angel's body that's tied into the core, so the core is also the equivalent of a heart as much as it is an energy source. There was a secondary network in the Fourth's body also tied to the core, so it might just be that the core serves three purposes, generation and distribution of energy as well as serve as the creature's, well, brain."

"Fascinating," Amanda mumbled. "Wait, you said the Fourth Angel? What about the Fifth?"

"Ah, that one is, strange, even compared to the Fourth. Its main body was actually effectively a giant, self-rearranging crystal lattice."

Amanda blinked. "Really?"

Maya nodded at the other woman's surprise. "We're still trying to figure out exactly how it shifted form like that. Our current running theory is some sort of electromagnetic field that reconfigured the lattice structure."

"But the possibilities," Amanda said, tapping her chin. "A material that could transform literally at a whim? The practical applications seem limitless."

"Ma'am?"

Amanda smiled. "Well, just consider what we have seen the Angels demonstrate to be possible. A form of pseudo anti-gravity, reconfigurable structures, a form of energy generation that does not appear to consume any identifiable fuel source, any one of those represents a major advancement over currently existing technology."

"That's very true," Maya agreed. "If we could figure out and duplicate these abilities, then mankind might reap immense benefits."

"Exactly. And if we understood better the weapons the Angels employ, we might be able to turn their own abilities against them. I don't know about you, but I'm getting a tad sick of sending kids out there with the equivalent of peashooters against those monsters."

Maya smiled at the auditor's obvious concern for the pilots. It was one thing that made the woman so easy to relate and talk to. Before either could say anything else however alarms began blaring in the base.

"Command personnel to the bridge," Aoba's voice shouted over the PA.

"Oh hell, what now," Amanda muttered as she and Maya vacated the office.

The two were on the bridge within minutes and Maya slid easily into her seat.

"What's the current status," Amanda queried.

"Captain Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi were attending a demonstration of the Jet Alone," Aoba explained. "During the trial run the JA unit went out of control. It's currently headed for Atsugi. The captain is requesting the deployment of Unit 01 to stop it."

Amanda almost choked at that but before she could say anything another voice of authority spoke.

"Does the captain have a plan."

Glancing back Amanda saw Gendo already seated at his dais. NERV's commander was prompt if nothing else.

"Yes sir," Aoba said. "She plans to have the EVA immobilize the JA and then board it to manually reset the systems."

Amanda dredged through her memories for the details of this particular incident. Jet Alone was an attempt by a Japanese industrial conglomerate to create a cheaper alternative to the Evangelions. It was doomed to failure even before the first proposal was drafted if only because there was literally no way to generate an AT-field without the biomechanical systems of an EVA, whatever Jet Alone's creator might delude himself into thinking. And without the AT-field, defeating an Angel was effectively impossible.

Not knowing this however Japan Heavy Chemical Industries had poured trillions of yen into the Jet Alone project to create the prototype they were supposed to be demonstrating today. But since it was a prototype the design had a few issues, including using a nuclear fission reactor for power. If that thing went, a good chunk of the Japanese countryside would go with it. Of course Misato was not about to stand idly by and let that happen.

"The proposal is approved," Gendo said. "Deploy Unit 01 with all haste."

And was it not just the coincidence that Shinji was on base undergoing a sync test, Amanda mused. While she already knew that Gendo was the primary instigator behind the JA's sabotage, she also knew that deployment of the EVA was solely Misato's idea. But the commander was nothing if not a thorough man and likely had arranged things so Shinji and Unit 01 would be available if things really did deteriorate out of his control or if Misato behaved as predicated and came up with some crazy idea to try to stop the thing. Amanda frowned. Even if that idea had absolutely no chance of working at all.

The personnel worked quickly and Unit 01 was soon transferred to the airbase right outside of Tokyo-3 where the massive air carriers were stationed. If this mission achieved nothing else, it would at least provide an actual test run of those planes. Misato had made the quick hop over to the base and final preparations for taking off were underway when Amanda stepped up next to Aoba.

"Patch me through to Katsuragi and Ikari," she ordered.

Aoba did not even bother looking over at his nominal superiors before complying. The past month or so had seen Amanda cement her standing amongst NERV-Tokyo's staff as solidly as she had with NERV-Berlin's and even outside the formal chain of command everyone simply naturally followed her orders unless they were directly countermanded.

"Line open," Aoba said.

"Misato, Shinji, can you hear me?"

"Huh? Amanda? What's up?" Misato replied for both of them. "Gonna wish us good luck?"

"You've always made your own," Amanda said. "No, I'm calling to make sure you understand not to take any stupid risks. This is a nuclear reactor we're talking about here and even getting as close as you're proposing is dangerous enough. If it looks like you can't disarm it, pull back, am I clear?"

Silence filled the channel for several seconds.

"Clear Amanda," Misato finally responded.

Amanda did not believe it for a moment, but she had delivered her warning.

The rest of the preparations were completed without hassle and the EVA carrier was soon in the air. Minutes later they were above the target and Unit 01 dropped. The countdown started.

Catching up to the JA was hardly difficult for an EVA, especially at the leisurely pace the other robot was moving at. Amanda listened to the radio exchange impassively, watching the timer tick down. Misato was making good time, despite the near scalding heat inside the JA. If this had been an actual error, she would have succeeded already.

"Misato-san! Get out of there!"

No response from inside. Shinji's panic spiked.

"Misato-san!"

"Pressure reaching critical!" Aoba reported. "We're out of time!"

"Misato-san!"

And just like that, the JA suddenly slackened and ground to a halt. Steam jets vented from the robot, the pressure inside plummeting as quickly as the tension at HQ. Aoba slumped back into his chair in obvious relief as he relayed the reports.

"Readings are nominal, reactor pressure returning to safe levels."

Without warning another source of intense, almost crushing pressure exerted itself on the command deck. The operators manning the stations all swung about toward the source and even Gendo found his attention drawn. Standing in the center of the balcony, Amanda exuded a calm but undeniably pervasive aura. More than one person was starting to suffer from the effects of forgetting how to breathe.

"Relay a message to Hauptmann Katsuragi," Amanda said, her tone composed and yet brokering utterly no objection. "Upon her return and decontamination, she is to meet me in my office for a one-on-one interview to, discuss, her conduct during this operation."

Aoba nodded, not sure if it was safe to do anything beyond that. With that Amanda took her leave of the bridge and he finally released the breath he had not even known he was holding.

* * *

It was not hard to see that Amanda Sommer was irate. The woman was generally regarded as a fount of patience and understanding for the people under her care despite the vigor with which she sometimes pursued her duty. As such those times when her temper genuinely flared, people got out of the blast zone as quickly as humanly possible. Unfortunately that was not an option for Misato Katsuragi as she was the current cause of Amanda's temper.

"Hauptmann Katsuragi," Amanda said in a voice far more formal than Misato could recall from recent memory. "Your plan for neutralizing the Jet Alone to prevent the detonation of its nuclear reactor and the loss of countless innocent lives was inspiring. Your blatant disregard for your life and the welfare of your charge after your plan failed, was idiotic. I trust that in the future you will not be so cavalier with either of those?"

"No ma'am," Misato said, not even offering a token protest. She had not graduated top of her tactics and operational planning class for nothing.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Amanda leaned forward on her desk and clasped her hands together. Misato almost gulped at the eerily similar pose.

"Make no mistake hauptmann," Amanda continued. "In our line of work there are risks and people will die. But those deaths should never come about because of carelessness or recklessness on our part. Every life wasted like that is an affront to not only those that perish but those that continue living. And your life, despite what you may think, is important indeed. You are not only the operations chief of NERV-Tokyo, you are also the guardian of Shinji Ikari, the Third Child and pilot of EVA Unit 01. If your own sense of self-worth is not enough to keep you from pulling suicidal stunts like that, then think about what worth others place in your life and what the loss of that life would mean to them."

Misato winced as Amanda clearly and bluntly dragged her wounds and mixed feelings out into the open. The German knew as much about Misato as any other person could, both from being her friend but also from all of the classified information she had access to as NERV's auditor-general. That meant she knew about Misato's tumultuous relationship with her deceased father, the period of time when she spent utterly mute after Second Impact, and the rough and tumble years of her relationship during college. Little wonder then that she was aware of Misato's own sense of guilt and grief that sometimes drove the woman to certain extreme courses of action. But as Amanda had pointed out more and more people were depending on her, including one very important, very scarred boy who was only just starting to open up.

"For the time being," Amanda carried on, "I will presume that for the immediate future you will reflect upon your actions and thus not give me reason to question your judgment again. Nevertheless, I will now have to insist that you participate fully in Shinji's sessions with Dr. Hayashima, meaning you will answer her questions in the same forthright and honest manner as Shinji does. Consider that a formal order, Hauptmann Katsuragi."

Misato nodded stiffly at that, a bit of resentment managing to make it past her guilt at having drawn this kind of reaction from her friend. But Amanda was obviously intent on making her deal with her issues and Misato really only had herself to blame for handing her friend such a good excuse to pry her into it with. She meant well too, what little consolation that was.

Amanda herself nodded, acknowledging that Misato was likely not too pleasured about the arrangement. But the other woman at least seemed ready to give it a try and that was enough for now.

"You are dismissed, Hauptmann."

End of Chapter 3

Well, apparently my fic has been listed on the EVA fanfic recommendation page for tvtropes. In celebration here's chapter 3 a bit earlier than I was originally planning, but the substantive changes that I wanted to get in are finished so it should be fine. Just a link at tvtropes right now, not a full blown page all on its own. It's a start. Then again the chapters that I have published so far probably don't contain enough tropes to actually warrant its own page yet. Though would it be fair to say Shinji took a level in badass in this chapter? The four chapters that I'm still sitting on tuning and revising on the other hand…

Yes, I actually do have drafts of chapters 4 through 7 primed. I'll stop teasing now. But in all seriousness, holding back the chapters have allowed me to make the storytelling considerably tighter. If I ever do get my own tropes page, I want to make sure that it could be claimed that I did the work to make an intricate, detailed, and realistic background for the story.

I am making two retroactive changes. First, Soren's last name is now Reimer instead of Iver. I have a very specific reason for making this change, the symbolism of which is probably guessable by people that are fans of the series. The last name of Iver I am likely to reuse, but that reuse will be more of a matter of convenience than anything else. Not that many German last names that start with I after all. The second change is a line of dialogue in the prologue. I finally worked out a major plot point that I need for the story and I wanted to start laying groundwork for it as early as possible. Combined these two changes will see me updating the content of all the previous chapters to reflect the changes, though there are no new scenes or anything, just the above changes and various grammar and spelling fixes. I have a master copy of this story that holds all corrections as I discover problems as I write and review. That copy is currently sitting at over 63,000 words. I'm maybe 30% of the way through the story in that draft, it depends heavily on how good a job I do building in the other backsteppers into the story.

At this point it should be evident that I'm drawing upon multiple iterations of the EVA franchise from the series to the manga to the movie. I'll be picking and choosing whatever I feel is the most appropriate for my version, but it is safe to assume that I have specific reasons for some of my choices. So yes, there is a very specific reason that I chose to use Shikinami instead of Soryu. And yes it will come into play. Probably in the last two or three chapters.

Writing a divergent timeline fic like this is tricky and requires way more planning and outlining than one might presume. Keep in mind for example that chapter 3 originally had about 7000 words. After revisions, extensions, and other edits it reached well over 8000 as I found the need to insert additional text to cover holes that started showing up only after I had two more chapters churned out. I'm still a tad unhappy with a few things, but I'm going to leave them be because I need to strike some kind of balance. Specifically, the intended pairing of this fic is obvious Shinji and Asuka. If I'm not careful however Shinji and Rei starts becoming a major possibility and breaking that up in a clean way later on is not something I want to have to deal with. So the two do get closer, but I need them to maintain a certain distance until at least Asuka does arrive and can, how should I put it, defend her territory herself instead of forcing Amanda to do it by proxy. And yes, Asuka is showing up next chapter. That one I may spend a bit more time massaging, since I'm still unhappy with a few scenes. There's also a big reveal next chapter that I need to make sure not to bungle.

Oh, and we get introduced to another backstepper in this chapter, albeit briefly. I leave it to all of you to place your bets.

Leave a review if you like this so far.

Z98


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Piano/Forte

"I never got along very well with my father," Misato began. "He was always wrapped up in his research and never seemed to pay much attention to me or my mother. Even after she died, more often than not I was home alone while he worked overtime down in the labs."

Shinji looked on in what one might call awe as his guardian began talking about herself after prompted by a question from Dr. Hayashima.

"And then he said he wanted to take me with him on a business trip. At first I was really happy, I'd get to spend some time with him!" Misato snorted. "Then I found out we were going to Antarctica."

Despite himself Shinji chuckled at that. Leave it to Misato to somehow inject humor into even the grand unveiling of her past traumas.

"I remember freezing my ass off down there. There wasn't anything to do, no other kids besides me. I think the other researchers all thought my father was crazy for dragging me down there. And it wasn't as if I really got to spend more time with him, he was still working nonstop! And just as I was starting to work up the nerve to tell him I wanted to go home, well, Second Impact happened."

Shinji's eyes widened and his breath caught at Misato's statement. The captain smiled wirily and shook her head.

"I would have died there, except my father managed to get me to one of the armored evacuation pods in time." Misato's hand wandered to the cross she wore and cradled it. "The last time I saw him, he was handing me this necklace and closing the pod."

Shinji looked at the cross and then back up at his guardian's face. "Your father saved your life."

The wiry smile returned. "He may have saved my life Shinji-kun, but he also was not there for a lot of it. I won't forget his last sacrifice for me, but that doesn't mean all those other times when he wasn't there when I needed him just go away. You can't redeem an entire life's worth of sin with just one selfless act, Shinji-kun. But I will at least remember that he did make one final effort to be a father."

* * *

As the principal responsible for meals in the Katsuragi household it was only natural that Shinji also did most of the grocery shopping. While his increasing skill at the stove meant he could probably even make the things Misato normally bought edible, Shinji had no real desire to increase his workload and if spending a bit of time at the grocery store meant shaving an hour or so off each night's cooking time he was all for it. Him doing the shopping also limited the opportunities Misato had for restocking her beer supply, though when desperate the captain was perfectly willing to head down to the nearest convenience store to get a six pack.

Today was a quick trip however, the cartoons of eggs the only things he was carrying home. He was not yet quite sure how but Misato and Amanda had engaged in a drinking game that had gone through all of their eggs the night before. Shinji sighed in bemused resignation at his guardian's antics, though if he was really fair Amanda deserved equal blame for last night. Maybe it was because of Soren's absence that Amanda let loose and joined the captain in such shenanigans. It still felt strange to see the otherwise straight-laced German woman behave like that. Shinji mentally reminded himself that he still needed to thank the German man for the meal at the hospital. Even after having cooled the man's cooking was still a wonder.

Perhaps due to his musings Shinji did not notice the other person rounding the corner into it was too late. The two collided head on and while Shinji managed to retain his balance the other party was not so fortunate.

"Kyaaaa!"

A distinctly feminine scream alerted Shinji to the fact that he had just bumped into a girl. Said girl was sprawled out in front of him, grocery bags scattered about and rubbing her head.

"Owie."

"Ah, I'm very sorry!" Shinji said and bowed stiffly.

"Oh uh, it's no problem," the girl said, blushing fiercely for some reason and scrambling to get back up. "Umm, I'm okay and-oh, no, the eggs!"

From one bag was the unmistakable leakage of broken eggs. The girl hurriedly opened it to check and sighed at the sight. The cartoon had been partially squashed and almost all of the eggs had been broken open.

"What am I going to do," she muttered.

"Oh uh, here," Shinji said, reaching into his own bag and pulling out a cartoon. His own had mercifully escaped damage and after a quick check to confirm he presented it to the girl. "You can have one of mine."

"Wha-I can't possibly do that! They're yours after all!"

"It's nothing," Shinji assured her. "And besides, I was the one that bumped into you. Please, accept these as an apology."

It must have been quite the surreal sight, a boy offering a girl a cartoon of eggs. The people passing by cast amused looks at the exchange but otherwise left the two alone. There was no point in intervening in such an amusing incident after all.

The girl's blush somehow deepened and she timidly accepted the cartoon. "Um, thank you very much, um…"

"Oh, I'm Ikari Shinji."

Cartoon in hand and other bags dangling on her arms, the girl somehow still managed a perfectly polite bow. "Yamagishi Mayumi." And then raven haired girl smiled, the small mole beneath her mouth rising with it. "Thank you very much, Ikari-kun."

Now Shinji was the one finding himself blushing. "Uh, no, it's nothing at all, Yamagishi-san."

After exchanging one last bow the girl carefully put the cartoon of eggs in a bag and walked off. Shinji could not help but watch her go, a sense of concern not quite going away at the sight of Mayumi carrying so many bags by herself. Once she was out of sight he sighed. It was unlikely he would run into her again, but at least he had not completely botched their chance encounter. Still, it felt nice to make up to someone after making an honest mistake. It felt even nicer when the other person accepted the gesture.

Deciding that the remaining cartoon of eggs would probably last long enough until his next shopping trip, Shinji headed back to the apartment. Upon entering he was quickly set upon by Misato.

"Shinji-kun, get that put away and let's go!"

"Huh? Umm, what's going on Misato-san?"

"We need to go shopping!" the woman said cheerfully. "You don't have any formal clothing and that just won't do for this evening."

Shinji blinked. "Are we going somewhere?"

Misato laughed playfully. "Fufufu, that's a surprise. Now hurry up!"

* * *

The concert was entering its last segment and as the applause died down for the previous piece the tall, statuesque German violinist stepped out from the wings with his violin tucked under his shoulder. He turned to face the audience and bowed, then towards the conductor and orchestra and repeated the gesture. The conductor returned it and then directed his attention back to the other musicians. In the silence that lingered throats could be heard clearing and fabric rubbed against the seats as the audience could not help but fidget in anticipation. The conductor tapped the podium with his baton, providing a hint of the initial tempo to the rest of the orchestra. It would only be a hint however, as once it began music could become a life of its own.

The conductor's arms dropped, but the true start of the piece was the three notes that rang from Soren's violin. The entire orchestra echoed them in a synchronized cord yet somehow Soren overshadowed them all. Each note was punctuated with just the right amount of vitality and strength and even as the other notes were weaved into the overall tapestry the violinist left his indelible mark upon the entire work. As his fingers flew across the violin and his bow glided back and forth, the German swayed in time and drew the audience into losing themselves in not only the sound but the very sight that accompanied them. Those lucky enough to have seats up front were able to actually see the man smile as he played, his eyes closed as he immersed not only them but also himself in the music. The music flowed up and down, back and forth as it slowed and sped up before hitting a dramatic crescendo that slowly let down its listeners. And then once more Soren struck the opening three notes, bringing the audience back full circle to the glory of the opening melody. Once more they were off and as they raced towards the conclusion before finally letting the strings sing together in perfect harmony.

The audience was already prepared to rise to their feet in applause but the musicians beat them to it as they began the next movement with a drawn out, soothing, almost quiet start. The Violin Concerto in E Major by Johannes Sebastian Bach had three movements after all and there was much more to share before the night was done.

* * *

The trio made their way backstage and were promptly directed to one of the private ready rooms. The formality of the event had required a shopping trip to get Shinji a set of suit and pants appropriately solemn. As Misato had commented as Shinji was forced to try on a variety of shades, the young man cleaned up nicely. They had finally settled on a tasteful black suit with a light blue shirt and a tie of a darker shade of blue. The effect was quite impressive and Misato made a few teasing comments about Shinji's female classmates squealing if they ever saw him like that. Shinji's response was a blush but also a few mumbled words about what effect Misato's outfit would have on his male classmates.

There was some truth to those words as Misato had chosen a sleek black dress that cut dangerously low in the front. It had apparently been a recent purchase and the captain was using tonight as a test drive of sorts. Based on the heads that had turned, most people would say that was a success. Salvation for Shinji had strangely enough come in the form of one Amanda Sommer.

The German woman was beautiful, there was absolutely no doubt of that. The dress that she had chosen however was in stark contrast to Misato's. Whereas the good captain's outfit sought to emphasize her womanly curves in as alluring a manner as possible, Amanda's dress went for a more subtle approach. The asymmetry of the dress left one of Amanda's shoulders bare but the other was covered with a sort of floral drape. That pattern extended to the rest of the outfit with a series of overlapping frills whose spacing decreased the lower down the dress they were.

All things considered, walking around with two such gorgeous women was making Shinji more than a little self-conscious. Fortunately they arrived at the room assigned to Soren shortly and he would soon be able to take refuge. Inside however they found several other violinists besides Soren packing up. The German virtuoso might have a reputation for aloofness but he was also known to be a fair and caring man that had little time for backstage theatrics. If other musicians needed or wanted to make use of the same room as him, so be it. They were all adults after all.

Then again as Amanda walked over and gave him a long and very passionate kiss, some might have wished that Soren was just a tad more selfish. At least then others would not need to feint courtesy in ignoring the couple. Though from the looks of the men present, they were quite enjoying the show. The women seemed torn between jealousy towards the brunette German, exasperation with their unattached male colleagues, and simple appreciation of such a romantic display. Soren for his part simply chuckled once Amanda finally pulled back. Picking up his case, he escorted her to where Shinji and Misato stood, the other woman grinning while Shinji was having trouble meeting their eyes.

"Enjoy the show?" Amanda asked, her smile teasing.

"Er, yes! I mean, I enjoyed the concert a lot!"

Misato snickered and ruffled Shinji's hair, but came to her charge's rescue. "It was lovely. Thank you for inviting us."

"Well I had to show off Soren at least once to Shinji here," Amanda said happily. "You have an interest in classical music, don't you?"

"Well, kind of," Shinji said sheepishly. "I mean, I know how to play the cello but I'm not very good."

"Music comes from the heart," Soren said as they headed towards the exit. "If you open it, you will find that the songs it sings will be unparalleled."

"My heart," Shinji muttered, unconsciously touching where his beat.

The three adults exchanged smiles at the sight. While Shinji had always had an introspective side, he was more and more asking himself the right questions instead of just questioning everything. One day soon he might very well find the answers too. And one day he would remember to thank Soren for that meal.

* * *

It was grocery day again and Shinji browsed the aisles exploring what deals were on offer for the day. He was in no particular rush and was enjoying the opportunity to see what kinds of food were actually available. The meat on offer ranged from almost wholly synthetic to actual prime cuts of genuine beef, the latter of which was exorbitantly expensive. In retrospect Shinji probably could afford buying some on his salary but he preferred to save his money. Maybe on some special day or event he might indulge, but that was not today.

As he entered the fresh produce section he found himself face to face with a recognizable albeit not entirely familiar person. If the look on the long haired girl's face was any indication she was just as surprised to meet him again.

"Yamagishi-san," Shinji greeted.

"Umm, Ikari-kun," Mayumi said with a shy smile. "I, wasn't expecting to see you again."

Shinji returned the smile. "Me neither. Umm, are you shopping for your family?"

Something about Mayumi's features seemed to stiffen for a moment but it disappeared before Shinji could figure out what it was. The girl nodded.

"Yes, I often help with the cooking and so I generally know what we need for groceries."

"Ah, it's the same with me," Shinji said, "though, it's more like I do all the cooking and so I'm the only one that can do the grocery shopping."

Mayumi giggled at that and Shinji's smile turned sheepish. Looking for something to distract himself, he glanced down at the cart Mayumi was pushing around. It was full, to say the least. And they had only bumped into each other a few days ago.

"Ah, do you have a large family, Yamagishi-san?"

There it was again, that flicker, and Shinji wondered just what he had said wrong. The smile returned quickly however as Mayumi nodded.

"Yeah, there's a lot of us, so we always go through the food quickly. I have to restock every few days."

"That must be a lot of work."

Mayumi shook her head. "It's okay, since there's so many of us we're always there for each other."

"That, sounds nice," Shinji said, his smile now in gentle admiration of such a notion.

Mayumi seemed taken aback by Shinji's reaction but nodded again. "Yes, it is."

Shinji looked down at the massive load and was reminded again of Mayumi's figure hauling around all those bags.

"Umm, do you need any help with all that?" he offered, before his mouth clamping shut as he wondered just what had gotten into him.

Mayumi's eyes widened and her face transformed into a bright scarlet.

"No, no, I didn't mean anything by that," Shinji said, frantically waving his arms. "I just, remembered that you had to carry all this stuff by yourself! And last time I accidentally ran into you and you lost your balance because…"

The blush on both faces did not go away but Mayumi seemed to have regained a bit of her composure as she smiled at Shinji.

"Thank you for the offer Ikari-kun, but, I should be okay."

"Oh uh, of course," Shinji said sheepishly. "Umm, sorry if that bothered you."

The girl shook her head, her hairs swaying along with the motion. "You're a kind person, Ikari-kun, you don't need to apologize."

The complement took Shinji by surprise and he found himself speechless. Was he a kind person? Shinji found he could not answer that about himself. But Mayumi seemed to think he was and for some reason he felt a strong urge to not prove her wrong.

* * *

"You're definitely improving, Ikari-kun," Hikari assured Shinji.

"Thank you Horaki-san," Shinji said with a wiry smile.

Improving he might be but the homework still felt hard and the tests even harder. Were it not for his NERV responsibilities he might have been able to keep up with the coursework but between the sync tests, Amanda's training, and a litany of other small things he rarely felt like he had enough time to do everything expected of him. Then again maybe he was just feeling a bit worn down.

"Hey prof, I think you're out of ice tea," Toji called from the kitchen.

"Suzuhara, stop slacking off and get back to work," Hikari admonished.

"Yeah, yeah, class rep, still, a man can't fight if he's dying o' thirst."

As Toji's comment indicated today's study session was being held at the Katsuragi residence. The location rotated between the homes of each member and Shinji recalled with mild amusement the first time it was Hikari's turn. The blushing between her and Toji was a priceless memory that had been immortalized by Kensuke's ever present camera. Said camera was even still intact, as was the memory card that had recorded that event.

"That's alright," Shinji said as he got up and stretched. "I need a break anyway. I'll make a quick run down to the store and get some."

"You don't need to do that Ikari-kun," Hikari began.

"No it's fine," Shinji said. "I need to get a few things for dinner anyway so this works out just fine."

"Well, if you're sure."

With another smile to assure the class rep Shinji got on his shoes and left. He was not lying about needing to go shopping or needing a break, though if he was perfectly honest he really needed the latter more at the moment. The grocery store was also fortunately close by and he was walking around basket in hand before long. Considering where he was it should not have been a surprise when he caught sight of the increasingly familiar figure. Mayumi was standing in the meat section, intently eyeing a price tag.

"Yamagishi-san," Shinji greeted as he wandered over.

Mayumi jumped and spun around but immediately sighed in relief when she saw it was Shinji. "Ikari-kun, you scared me."

"Sorry about that. Umm, you seemed rather focused."

"Oh," Mayumi said with a blush. "I was just, trying to decide if I could afford this..."

Looking at the product in question, Shinji saw that it was a special for the 90% synthetic meat. The special was a bit unconventional in that if one bought above a certain amount one got a steep discount. Even so, the total amount was not that expensive, or at least Shinji would have thought.

"Do you not have enough with you?" Shinji asked.

Again that flinch. By now even Shinji was getting the hint and kicked himself internally at his own callousness.

"Umm, I was thinking of buying some meat today as well," he quickly said. "How about this, we figure out how much we're both going to buy and combine it. I'll pay for it at the register and you can pay me back when we split it up afterward?"

Mayumi looked at Shinji with wide eyes. "You don't need to do that, Ikari-kun!"

"It's fine Yamagishi-san," Shinji assured her. "It doesn't really inconvenience me at all. And besides, I'm sure your family would be happy with it."

Mayumi blushed, unable to look Shinji in the eye. Instead came a whisper. "Thank you."

The black haired girl continued staring down at her feet as Shinji accompanied her for the rest of the items on her list. She still responded to Shinji however and even asked a few questions of her own. By the time they got to the registers they both knew which schools they went to and Mayumi even guessed that Shinji's family worked for NERV. Apparently most of the students at the First Municipal Junior High School were children of NERV employees. This time it was Shinji's turn to wince slightly at the question, a reaction that despite not looking at him Mayumi did not miss. Just as Shinji had done before she quickly changed the topic and they ended up talking about hobbies and interests. Shinji soon learned that like another quiet girl he knew Mayumi enjoyed reading. Mayumi commented on how nice it was that Shinji could play the cello. She also squeaked in surprise when she found out he was learning karate but quickly asserted that that somehow only made Shinji gentler. That was more than a little confusing to the boy.

Once outside Shinji opened up his bag and pulled out a few of the meat packages. As he presented them to Mayumi the girl frowned slightly.

"Umm, my share wasn't that much."

Shinji smiled. "We can't exactly open these up to split them. And besides, you have a bigger family. I'm sure you could this to better use than me."

Mayumi still seemed reluctant but nevertheless accepted the packages. As she did so their hands brushed ever so slightly. It took all of Shinji's willpower not to jerk back in panic as Mayumi blushed again, hard.

"Umm, thank you, Ikari-kun."

"It was no trouble," Shinji said.

The two exchanged farewell bows and Shinji headed back to the apartment. It was not until he opened the door did he realize just how much time he had spent on his little 'break.'

"Umm, I'm back," he said sheepishly.

"Finally! Where you been prof, we were about to send a search party after you!"

"I uh, ran into someone I knew," was Shinji's only excuse.

Kensuke frowned. "Really? Was it a girl?"

"Aida!?"

"Ouch, what, it could have been?"

"Unlike you, Ikari-kun is far too well behaved to be flirting shamelessly."

"That, that stings class rep."

Wisely, Shinji decided that this time the truth could lay buried. There was no need to lessen Hikari's good opinion of him after all. He still needed her help for tonight's math homework.

* * *

"Wow, wow, wow this is great!" Kensuke shouted over the radio.

Shinji smiled as his friend gushed at being able to ride in the helicopter. As a military transport, it did not have any of the civilian luxuries like sound proofing or vibration dampening. Thus the only way any of them could hear each other was through the headsets they wore. They were currently speeding over the endless blue ocean and Kensuke was busy recording every moment of it.

"A MI-26 Transport helicopter! I never thought I'd get a chance to fly on one! It's great to have well connected friends!"

Shinji sighed, letting the other boy have his fun. The two of them, Toji, and Misato were strapped in right now yet Kensuke somehow managed to arch his body about to record what was going on outside. Shinji was fairly certain stretching the seatbelts like that was not safe but as Misato had refrained from issuing any reprimands he decided to keep his peace as well.

"Well it's boring to be stuck up in the mountains all the time," Misato said cheerfully, "so I thought I would take all of you on a date!"

"Really?" Toji began, but caught himself. "Well, I ppreciate it Misato-san, though maybe in that case I could have, well…"

"You could have invited the class rep," Kensuke finished for him.

"Why you, quiet!"

Shinji laughed as the two bickered. It was quite the development from their initial study group into Hikari making Toji's lunch for him every day. In fact just yesterday Shinji had learned that the two walked Sakura, Toji's sister to school and she also got a homemade lunch from the class rep. While Toji might still deny it wholeheartedly everyone else could see the blindingly obvious. Hell, even Shinji could and that really said something.

"So where are we going anyway, Misato-san?" Shinji asked.

"We're going for a cruise aboard that gorgeous ship!" Misato said, pointing out the window.

Glancing out, Shinji caught sight of not just one ship but an entire fleet fast approaching.

"Oh wow!" Kensuke exploded. "One two three, five carriers and six battleships! That's gotta be the entire Pacific Fleet! Man it is good to have connections!"

"That's a gorgeous ship?" Toji asked skeptically.

"Yeah!" Kensuke continued. "That's the pride of the UN Fleet, the supercarrier Over the Rainbow!"

"The ship is huge!" Shinji said, a bit surprised his friend could recognize which one it was from up here.

"Well, it is something of a relic," Misato said as the helicopter began its descent.

"Nah, it's just vintage," Kensuke defended the carrier. "Pre-Second Impact!"

The four disembarked and Kensuke happily spun about recording everything in sight even as the boys followed Misato to meet with the welcoming party. What caught Shinji's eye however was a single figure with flowing auburn hair in a bright yellow sundress. With her face framed by the shining strands, Shinji was almost dumbstruck at the sight. And then that same gust of wind that caused that hair to dance caught hold of Toji's new hat.

"Ah hey wait!"

The boy chased after it but the hat was one step ahead until landing at the feet of the girl. Shinji felt a terrible premonition surface. She slammed her foot down, crushing the hat into the deck as Toji finally caught up and reached for it.

"Huh?"

The wind picked up again. Shinji flinched.

Slap. Slap. Thud.

Instinctively and barely even aware of what was going on, Shinji's arm shot up and his body shifted into a defensive stance as he blocked the oncoming hand. The girl's eyes widened before blinking rapidly in surprise. And then a wide smile covered her face. Somehow it made her look all the more beautiful. Her other arm shot up into a horizontal hammerfist and Shinji caught that too. The smile somehow grew wider. The next attack came much faster and Shinji barely had time to shift his arms to block the punch. The girl however grabbed hold of the blocking arm and twisted, using it as leverage to throw Shinji off balance. The move was exactly the same as one Amanda had just taught him how to get out of however and Shinji shifted his weight, flowing through the maneuver and remaining on his feet. This time another look of surprise greeted him as Shinji found himself face to face with the girl once more. Before she could continue further however saner minds intervened.

"Alright that's enough you two," Misato called out.

Giving him one last, almost playful glare, the girl released him and stepped back.

"I have high expectations for you Third Child," the girl said cheerfully. "Don't disappoint me."

Shinji could only stare at her form, a bit awed at the brightness that shone from her eyes. Toji on the other hand was more than ready to pick up the slack.

"Why the hell did ya hit me!" he demanded.

"Payment for the peek," the girl said nonchalantly. "Quite the bargain, wouldn't you agree?"

"It's overpriced!" Toji retorted. "Here, have some change!"

As he began futzing with his belt Shinji shot over to his friend and grabbed hold of him, putting the other boy in a lock that Amanda had also just taught him.

"Ah, don't mind him," Shinji said hurriedly, "he didn't mean anything by it."

The redhead cocked her head to the side but eventually smiled again with a shrug after a few seconds of watching Toji struggle and cry out in pain. Apparently willing to drop the matter, she turned away and headed back toward Misato. Just as Toji was shouting himself hoarse that Shinji was going to dislocate something the Third Child dropped his friend with a thud.

"Sorry," Shinji said as he looked down, "but I think that might have been the less destructive route."

"Damn Shinji," Kensuke said, still recording. "When'd you learn judo locks?"

Misato had watched the entire exchange with bemused attention. Shinji was obviously making considerable progress in the karate and judo Amanda was teaching him if his little display with Asuka was an indication. The German girl also seemed remarkably nonplussed at having all of her attacks countered.

"Allow me to make some introductions," Misato said as the teens gathered about. "This is Second Lieutenant Asuka Langley Shikinami of NERV-Berlin, the Second Child and designated pilot of EVA Unit 02. Asuka, this is Ikari Shinji, pilot of Unit 01. These two are his friends, Aida Kensuke and Suzuhara Toji."

"Umm, pleased to meet you," Shinji said nervously as Toji pointedly ignored the girl while Kensuke simply gaped at her.

Asuka smiled again and Shinji felt a shiver run down his spine. The smile was not exactly friendly, but there was an undeniable hunger to it as if the Second Child was eyeing him much as a predator eyed a choice prey it was about to bring down. Shinji thought back to Amanda's words.

"Asuka's very competitive. She's always looking for something to measure herself against. If she decides to use you for that, it means you have a modicum of her respect. If you want to keep that respect, or for that matter keep living, don't back down."

And so Shinji forced himself to smile back, even if his was nowhere as confident. Yet that seemed to be enough for Asuka's smile did not fade. In fact it even softened a little as if Shinji was no longer just mere prey. It looked like he might even have been promoted to chew toy. A definite step up.

* * *

The introduction to the fleet's flag officer had gone less than civilly, the man apparently holding a grudge against NERV's authority and priority in funding. Then the person that was apparently looking after Asuka during the transfer to NERV-Tokyo appeared and Misato had reacted in absolute horror. The Second Child on the other hand leapt to her chaperone's side and while she did not exactly latch onto him, she still seemed remarkably happy to have him around. After having been more or less tossed off the bridge, the group went to get some food when the next crisis occurred.

"WHERE ARE YOU TOUCHING!" the two women screamed indignantly.

"I CAN'T HELP IT!" Kaji and Toji protested as they were all squished into the elevator.

It was with some relief that they piled out and made their way to the mess hall. The fare was pretty banal, the closest thing to edible really being some poorly flavored noodles.

"So, are you seeing anyone?" Kaji asked Misato as they sat down with their food.

"And since when did that become your business?" Misato retorted.

"Haha, oh you wound me so," Kaji said before glancing over at Shinji. "So, you're living with Katsuragi?"

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"Tell me, is she still messy in bed, Ikari Shinji-kun?"

Five sets of mouths dangled open at Kaji's question. Only one managed to close as Shinji began slurping down a helping of noodles. After chewing and swallowing, he grinned as he answered.

"Oh you know-"

"What the hell are you saying here!?" Misato cried, cutting Shinji off.

"So I take it she hasn't changed?" Kaji said with a wink.

"Uh, I suppose," Shinji said, "but, how do you know my name?"

"Oh you're famous in our line of work," Kaji said. "The Third Child that went and defeated an Angel on his first deployment without any prior training."

"I got lucky," Shinji said.

"Luck and skill are often two sides of the same coin," Kaji said. "Don't discount your own achievements, Shinji-kun."

Shinji smiled and shrugged, willing to accept the man's words at face value for the time being.

"So you and Misato-san know each other?" Shinji said.

"Know each other? We dated back in college."

"The worst mistake of my life," Misato muttered.

"You wound me Katsuragi," Kaji said playfully. "Even after we worked together so long at the Third Branch?"

"We didn't work together at Berlin, we both worked at Berlin," Misato stated. "There's a difference."

"Oh, I seem to recall seeing you quite a bit," Kaji said. "And I'm sure we'll see each other quite a bit more once we reach Tokyo-3."

"Don't count on it," Misato muttered again.

Kaji simply chuckled and stood. "Well, see all of you later."

Misato was still clutching her head in despair as Kaji and Asuka took their leave. "This has got to be a bad joke. No, a nightmare!"

* * *

Out on the main deck Asuka braced herself against the railings and enjoyed the salty breeze.

"So, what do you think of the Third Child?" Kaji asked.

Asuka kicked her legs about but did not answer immediately.

"He's, interesting, I guess," she finally said. "He managed to keep up with me when I tested him earlier."

"Apparently Amanda's been training him personally," Kaji put in.

"Eh? Well I guess that explains that. Not even a wuss would stay a wuss after Amanda got through with him."

"Well don't beat up too much on him," Kaji said. "He is still an EVA pilot after all."

Asuka sniffed in mock derision. "Well they can stop relying on that amateur once I arrive."

Though considerably mellowed compared to five years ago, Asuka was still quite headstrong. Kaji sighed helplessly but could not help and smile. Assuming she did not end up killing him those two would do great things together, of that Kaji was certain. He only hoped he would live long enough to see it.

* * *

"It's red," Shinji said somewhat dumbly.

Only a short time had passed since lunch when Asuka reappeared. The redhead wasted no time demanding Shinji accompany her, leading him to a massive cargo bay in the ship. Before him lay a dormant Evangelion, a bright red being its dominant color much as purple was for Unit 01 and yellow used to be for Unit 00. Last time he had seen that unit he recalled blue plates slowly overtaking its form.

"Its color isn't the only thing that's different," Asuka said proudly, grinning down at him.

Apparently not content to simply show him her EVA, Asuka had somehow climbed atop it and was standing imperiously above him. Shinji prayed fervently that the climate control in here did not generate any inconvenient breezes. Asuka did not even seem to notice the view she was nearly offering the boy.

"00 was a prototype and 01 a test type, but my 02 is a production type designed for actual combat, the first true Evangelion."

As Shinji searched for some response to Asuka's proclamation, the ship suddenly shuddered.

"What was that!?" he exclaimed.

"That felt like an underwater explosion," Asuka said, bending down slightly to maintain her balance. "An attack?"

The girl's grin grew wider. Shinji felt a shiver run down his spine.

* * *

"So still no luck figuring out how the Fifth Angel generated that massive particle beam?"

"We have a few running theories but nothing that we can actually test," Ritsuko replied.

The scientist and Amanda were in one of NERV's many labs, chatting away over a shared pot of coffee. Whereas Misato valued her friendship with the German woman partially for the good beer Amanda always kept on tap, Ritsuko was far more enamored with the woman's ability to brew an actually good pot of coffee. That and Amanda somehow managed to get her hands on Jamaican Blue Mountain despite the fact that that island had more or less disappeared after Second Impact despite her relatively meager salary as a UN bureaucrat. Like much of the other luxuries she seemed to enjoy, her husband was probably the responsible party.

"So what's the current theory du jour then?" Amanda asked.

"Well, based on the way that the two beams warped around each other we're fairly certain that Ramiel's beam was also positively charged," Ritsuko said. "We think that the Angel generated its beam by ionizing the air around it by stripping electrons and then accelerating those ions at near luminal velocities. In some ways it would even account for the wide spread it could achieve. The only real limiting factor would be how many particles it could grab from the surrounding area."

"Neat trick," Amanda said. "Any ideas how to duplicate it?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "It probably has something to do with how it was able to shift forms, but our analysis of its corpse has not turned up anything new."

"Shame. If we could duplicate that beam weapon, our fights with future Angels might go easier."

"We are building more portable positron cannons for use by the EVAs," Ritsuko pointed out. "They might not have all of Japan's electrical generation backing them but they should still be immensely powerful. And if we ever do need that much power again, well, that's what the Yashima Project is for."

Amanda nodded in thoughtful agreement. After the demonstrated ability of the positron cannon prototype, NERV was wasting no time to exploit the technology. Within a month or so they would have the first of the EVA-portable positron cannons ready for testing and assuming no major flaws were discovered general deployment.

At the same time there was no telling if another Angel as powerful as Ramiel might show up and so the haphazard arrangement of capacitors, transformers, and various energy transfer conduits that had been hurriedly assembled at Yashima was being adapted into a more permanent installation. A safer and more robust direct tap into the national power grid was being installed along with huge banks of batteries. The idea was to trickle charge the batteries with excess power from the grid so that the system could support at least one shot without needing to completely take over the national grid. Assuming no Angel ended up possessing an AT-field even stronger than Ramiel's, that one shot by itself should be enough. Completion of the system would still take a few more months and the surrounding landscape had been absolutely desolated by all the construction. Then again Ramiel had done a pretty good job of slagging everything in the first place when it responded to Unit 01's first attempt to snipe it.

"Oh, there was one other thing," Ritsuko said.

Amanda turned to her friend expectantly.

"We've analyzed the recordings of the battle against Ramiel and it appears that Shinji-kun did not miss."

Amanda blinked. "Then, how in the world did the Angel survive?"

"It appears that the anti-matter annihilation reaction only destroyed part of the core," Ritsuko explained. "If you compare before and after shots, the core is considerably reduced, by about one third we estimate. And when considering how much power the Angel was pumping into its second shot against Shinji-kun and Rei, it is likely that its AT-field had become drastically weaker."

"You don't say," Amanda mused. "Might that be why Unit 01 was able to destroy the core from that far away?"

Ritsuko pursed her lip at the reminder of that other little mystery. "Possibly."

Amanda smiled sympathetically. "Still no ideas on how he pulled off that sync ratio?"

The scientist shook her head. "By all rights that should have been impossible with all the safeguards we've built into the EVA. That he was able to come back from it is an even bigger mystery. The only times a synchronization like that has been recorded…"

Amanda nodded. Technically as an outsider she should never have been privy to that information. On the other hand she could actually be considered even deeper in the layers of secrets that surrounded NERV, the Human Instrumentality Project, and of course SEELE. The ostensible UN auditor took another sip from her mug before glancing over at the clock. She nearly spluttered the drink out.

"Crap, it's that late already?"

Ritsuko followed her gaze. The scientist only kept track of time these days based on her own work obligations. It was about time that she went and prepared to receive Misato, for that matter.

"I need to get going," Amanda said, draining the mug and setting it aside. "I was supposed to cook dinner tonight."

Ritsuko smiled, unable to help the slight sense of jealousy that remark elicited. It must have been nice having someone waiting when you got home, or having someone to wait for.

Before Amanda could leave however the door opened revealing one of NERV's ubiquitous men in black suits. This particular suit was not just anyone however and he looked remarkably nervous for someone of his rank.

"Chief Aramaki," Ritsuko greeted. "Is something the matter?"

The head of Section-2 cast an increasingly wary eye towards Amanda, causing the auditor's own eyebrow to rise.

"What."

Ritsuko winced at the next few words. Amanda's reaction was far more audible.

"SOREN WAS WHAT!?"

End of Chapter 4

Hmm, my readers seem to be of the more quiet variety. Alright, cliffhanger time!

I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, the original draft of chapter 4 did not end on a cliffhanger like this. In the middle of writing chapter 9 however I came upon a possible modification to the story that would allow me to deal with two problems that were emerging. This modification however required that I go back and make significant additions/changes to the story and so what used to be chapter 4 got broken up into two chapters and quite a few scenes got shuffled around. The consequence of me having posted chapter 3 earlier than I had planned however was the necessity of me creating a somewhat truncated introduction for Mayumi Yamagishi.

Unlike many of the other characters I have so far introduced, Yamagishi is for the most part unmodified from her appearance in the EVA tertiary canon. That being said, does anyone actually know of any actual details for the 2nd Impression game? Cause the amount of information available is remarkably bare. I know the basic premise of the game and a few details about Yamagishi, but I haven't found any actual information about the resolution of said game. Tis mildly irritating, to say the least.

As for Mayumi in my story, again, had I not posted chapter 3 early, I would have shifted her introduction into here and stretched out her development and integration a bit more. As it is however I'm being somewhat forced to develop her pretty quickly. Or at least it feels somewhat quick for me. Then again maybe not seeing as there are at least eight more chapters in which that particular thread can unfold. But having her as early as chapter 3 probably would have made the impact even greater later on. I'll shut up now so as not to spoil things too much.

Asuka's now made her rather dynamic entrance, even if it got pushed to basically the end of this chapter. But I think I captured what I wanted from her appearance and made clear the distinction between how her and Shinji's relationship gets started compared to the series canon. Instead of simply accepting everything she dishes out, Shinji is now proactively responding, even if at a somewhat instinctive level.

Looking at my current drafts of chapters 5 through 10 I am getting a bit concerned that I'm not quite capturing the larger picture of what's going on. So far most of the scenes have centered around people who could be counted as on the pilots' side in one way or another. Gendo, SEELE, and co haven't really gotten much screen time beyond getting shown up in some way or another. I suppose one way I could add in some pushback against the meddling by the sidesteppers (I've decided that backsteppers is not quite as accurate a term) is to describe SEELE agents or the like starting to interfere. I'm not sure I want to do that however, since that can lead to a rabbit hole where the attention shifts away from the pilots, who are quite frankly supposed to be the focus of this story. At the same time I have to make what happens in the climax and conclusion of this fic somewhat believable. And believe me when I say that Soren, Amanda, Margaret, and all the other sidesteppers have a hell of an ace up their sleeve. But not everything can go smooth sailing for them, that would make things a bit too uninteresting. So there will be bumps on the road, pretty major ones at that. I just have to figure out how to weave in the external interference without losing focus on the true main characters and yet make not make said external interference feel like throwaway references. We'll see whether this results in either inflated chapters or just more chapters being broken up.

I'm not quite sure how I should respond to one of the reviews. I'm pretty sure the tvtropes page makes quite clear who 'Misato' is. I mean, I don't think I was especially subtle about that. I think that's as much as I'm prepared to come out and state anything. When the fic is finished I'll likely publish some sort of character guide and a few notes on each persona. Until then however I leave it up to my readers to spoil themselves. One could also look at the reviews, I'm pretty sure at least one person has made accurate stabs at some of the lingering points so far.

Oh, final aside. Word count is just shy of 75k in my current draft and I would put that at about 30% of the overall story.

Z98


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Battaglia

The rehearsal had ended a bit late though all of the participants seemed quite satisfied. Conducting their first live concert after the arrival of the Angels had seemed to instill a sense of normalcy back into the musicians of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the next concert series promised to be even more exciting. Well, not all people found classical music exciting but Soren always felt that the sounds resonated with him at a deep, innate level. It was one of the reasons he had chosen to pursue a career in music.

That career had been remarkably lucrative, surprisingly so considering the emphasis on survival after Second Impact. People craved nourishment for the spirit as well for the body however and the arts flourished moderately well after the immediate chaos subsided. As such Soren was independently quite wealthy and would have been able to easily cover his and Amanda's living expenses even without all the subsidies and stipends she got as a UN auditor. Since most of their daily expenses were thusly taken care of most of what Soren spent his disposable income on was luxury goods he used to spoil his wife, even if Amanda's claim over the many bottles of wine in his collection was more tenuous than the brunette might be willing to concede. From time to time however he bought a few toys for himself such as the Guarneri violin he reserved for concerts or the Greiner he used for rehearsals.

Then there were his cars. In truth Soren only had two cars while in Germany and his third was to accommodate Japanese street rules. The Lamborghini Aventador was seriously underused since as a two-seater it was good for little else beyond taking Amanda out on dates and his wife was more than a tad vocal about his driving habits when in such a vehicle. Showing up in that for practice would also be a tad too flamboyant. Not that his Porsche Panamera was any more egalitarian, it was however at least utilitarian. Of course once in Japan with its reversed traffic conventions, Soren had needed a vehicle appropriately configured for said changes. Amanda had seen through the bare excuse but had indulged him, which was why their new family car was a BMW i8 just released last year. While on the smallish side compared to the Panamera, it still seated at least four and so could be used for a wider range of social activities than the Aventador.

Tonight though Soren had nothing on his schedule and was simply looking forward to getting home and relaxing. Amanda had texted earlier to let him know that she would be home early and taking care of dinner, a rare treat that he was quite anticipating. After securing his violin, Soren caught one of his Section 2 shadows in the corner of his eye. The man's attention seemed to be more on Soren's car than his nominal charge, which the German found quite understandable. While NERV's security elements were not poorly equipped by any measure not even Section-2 could really afford to outfit their field agents with German luxury sports cars. He flashed a grin at the agent, who returned it with an envious smile. That moment of distraction was to prove nearly fatal.

The first round slammed into the open door and Soren had just enough time to throw himself onto the ground before more shots careened through the space he had just occupied. Off to the side screams erupted but Soren was too busy scrambling to get under cover to pay much notice. Already his security team was snapping into action and three men drew weapons as they tried to pinpoint the source of the shots. The attacker was kind enough to help by firing again, splintering the windshield.

Catching sight of their assailant, the Section 2 agents responded in kind. Their first shots were low, sparks flying as they struck the concrete. Having found their range, the next rounds were dead on target and should have dropped the attacker. Instead, the air rippled with orange flashes and the robed figure remained standing.

"Scheiße!"

Soren was leaning up a bit and caught sight of what happened. He supposed he should not have been so surprised, they had been expecting something to try to interfere with the scenario once things kicked into high gear. Sharpening his senses, he reached out see just what this thing was. He nearly choked.

"That's impossible," he muttered.

As if sensing his touch, the figure shifted toward him and opened fire once more. With the car in between them the bullets had little chance of hitting, or at least that was how it should have been. Instead Soren recovered just in time to flatten on the ground as holes were torn clean through what were supposed to be bulletproof panels and the responsible projectiles zipped over his head.

"Okay, now that's just cheating," he cursed, conveniently ignoring the fact that that thing was also stopping all of the bullets the Section 2 agents were pouring into it. At this rate they were going to run clean out of ammo before backup arrived.

Opening the door on his side, Soren fumbled about until he got into the storage compartment and pulled out his own weapon. It was beginning to look like all that damn paperwork to let him carry around the Glock18 would be worth it. Bracing himself against the car, Soren took aim and fired. Like the others his first shot had been to determine range but even so it would have hit dead center save for the orange flash. The next shot however Soren focused on the bullet and rode with it through the air. As it struck the AT-field, the round served as a medium for another field that began eroding the defense. The next round continued the effect until finally one made it through and struck the attacker in the shoulder.

"Ah!"

The cry took all of them, Soren included, by surprise. Not because the attacker had cried out, but because the tone was most definitely female. The sudden jerking of her body caused the hood to flip down and despite the dim light Soren caught sight of a head of short brown hair. And then their eyes met, blue sapphires gazing into an emerald green. The figure quickly pulled the hood back up and beat a retreat. The shots that rang after her found only air as she faded into the shadows.

Sirens were now audible and getting louder with every second. When the cavalry arrived not only were there two Tokyo-3 police cars but also three Section-2 armored SUVs and a Stryker AFV. The rear of the AFV popped open and a team of heavily armed soldiers poured out, forming a protective screen around Soren. The German could not help but chuckle at the remarkable show of force.

"Did my wife put you all up to this?" he asked as the squad leader approached him.

"Sommer-san would be most aggrieved with Section-2 if we were to allow her husband to come to harm while under our care," the soldier replied.

Not nearly as aggrieved with me if I let myself get hurt, Soren thought to himself.

* * *

The trip was finally over as the ship slid into Yokosuka harbor. Misato let out a sigh of relief as she caught sight of the NERV personnel waiting to receive the EVA. Shinji's friends were busy giving him grief about wearing a plugsuit sized to Asuka and the girl herself was waiting impatiently to be on dry land again. Things had certainly gotten eventful when the Angel showed up and their victory had been a close one. Sinking two battleships and ramming them into the Angel while Unit 02 held open its mouth sounded as ludicrous as it actually was but the plan had worked and that was the important bit. In fact that victory had resulted in a rather unexpected event as their journey drew to a close.

As the fleet had approached Yokosuka Misato's presence was requested on _Over the Rainbow's_ flag bridge. To her surprise the various officers present were standing at attention as she entered.

"Major Katsuragi," the admiral greeted, extending Misato the courtesy 'promotion' commonly used when a non-naval captain was aboard a ship.

"Admiral O'Connell," Misato nodded politely.

"When you first came aboard, I am afraid I conducted myself in a rather discourteous manner," O'Connell said, surprising Misato though the woman tried to hide it. The twitch of the admiral's mustache told her she had not be entirely successful. "I made many insinuations as to the usefulness of the Evangelions and, even worse, the competency and worthiness of their pilots. Having seen their demonstrated courage and ability, I am not ashamed to admit that I was wrong."

This time Misato did not even try to hide her surprise. However, it quickly settled into a smile.

"Thank you for your kind words admiral," she said.

O'Connell returned the smile before stiffening into a sharp salute. The other bridge officers followed suit and Misato snapped her heels together and returned it.

"Godspeed major," O'Connell said.

And thus the trip ended more or less on a high note and Misato found herself in remarkably high spirits. That did not prevent her from being the first one off the ship after the gangways were secured. Ritsuko was down on the docks and waiting for her, the other woman looking surprisingly grim.

"Something wrong?" Misato asked.

A few seconds later, heads turned.

"SOREN WAS WHAT!?"

* * *

As a civilian Soren technically had no right to enter the Geofront proper. As the husband of the UN auditor-general and a victim of a would-be assassination attempt however, no one seemed willing to take umbrage at the bending of rules. Of course with the screen of Section-2 agents scattered along the direct approaches to Amanda's office it was unlikely Soren could wander into some classified area accidentally or intentionally, though why the German musician needed a protective screen down here was a bit beyond most people's imaginations. And then people remembered the chewing out Amanda had recently handed NERV's chief of operations after her stunt with the Jet Alone and they began evaluating just whom the Section-2 agents were really protecting by diverting people away from the auditor-general's office.

Those people were not entirely wrong as Amanda was in a way trying to protect the other NERV personnel. More specifically however, she was trying to protect them from the conversation that was currently being held in her secured office. The place was obviously bugged, not just by Section-2 but also by Commander Ikari's own dedicated team and probably the United Nations that Amanda ostensibly worked for. SEELE might have also gotten in on the act, not out of distrust for their agent but more for the interesting tidbits that might get revealed by other people that wandered into her office for more mundane purposes. All of them were being treated to a masterful display of swearing in German, English, French, and Spanish as Amanda tore the head of Section-2 to pieces for the lapse in security that had nearly gotten her husband killed. She had yet to get to Japanese, likely waiting until she had actually used all of the curses in the other languages first.

Aramaki for his part did his best to defend himself, pointing out that Soren's security detail engaged the attacker almost immediately and reinforcements had shown up within minutes. And while Amanda could not exactly dispute the rapid response time, she could still throw into Aramaki's face the fact that someone managed to penetrate deeply enough to make the attempt in the first place, with a gun for that matter. Loosened post-Second Impact gun control laws be damned, they were still supposed to be at least more difficult to get ahold of than in the old United States.

All of this was camouflage however, a sideshow to give their listeners and minders what they expected to hear. The real conversation was happening in a much more circumspect manner and at a level that no one could detect, at least not without pointing very specialized equipment at the three. Fortunately that equipment existed in only one place in the world. NERV-Tokyo was not that place.

"So, what the hell happened?" Amanda asked.

Both Soren and Aramaki conveyed the equivalent of a metaphoric shrug.

"The entity that attacked me had the feel of an EVA," Soren said, "not an Angel. We already know that the MAGI detected a pattern orange AT-field."

"Ritsuko's already going ballistic trying to figure that one out," Amanda said. "And Ikari and SEELE won't be far behind."

"We're partially covered there," Aramaki said. "All of the after action reports and interviews make clear that even if Soren was shooting at the time the attacker was actually hit, so were two of the other agents. No one has any idea who actually managed to hit her and the three are pretty convinced that it was one of them."

"What about ballistics?" Amanda asked.

"Soren's gun uses the same rounds as Section-2's," Aramaki reminded her. "It's why we chose that model, remember? So many bullets got fired that even with the bullets we recovered we wouldn't be able to determine which gun fired them."

"And blood?"

This time Aramaki shook his head. "Soren might have hit her, but she didn't leave any blood behind from it. That might be a good thing actually, hard to make that kind of evidence disappear. At least this way we're both clueless."

"Ikari is not stupid however," Soren said. "He'll suspect something if only because the man is utterly paranoid. SEELE Amanda can probably divert, especially if we point them down an obvious direction."

Amanda glanced at her husband. "You have a suggestion?"

"They already know about Ayanami," Soren said. "Hint that maybe it's an extension of that program."

Amanda blinked. "Are you sure you want to do that? If SEELE thinks she might be that dangerous, they could try to eliminate her and start the series over from scratch."

"Then you need to make sure they understand the distinction between the program and its extension," Soren said. "All we need to do is distract them a bit while we hunt down whatever this thing is. Once we find and kill it, we can spin the evidence however we want."

"It is interesting that it attacked you," Aramaki said. "I mean, why you? As far as most people know, you're just a musician who happens to be married to a UN auditor."

"You mean the UN Auditor-General to NERV HQ," Amanda reminded him.

"Even so, a lone gunwoman with no backup?"

"We should not try to analyze this from the perspective of some action group," Soren said. "The key point is the AT-field. She generated one to defend herself and thus she is no ordinary human. The question now is, who would be capable of doing such a thing and how did we overlook her?"

"Maybe we didn't overlook her," Amanda said thoughtfully. "Maybe she wasn't here originally."

That thought caused both men to grimace. If that was true, if this woman was a product of their modifications, things could get much, much messier before all was said and done.

"Anyway, we'll keep digging," Amanda said. "In the meantime we still need something to divert Ikari from-"

The door to the office suddenly opened and Amanda's mouth snapped shut. From the perspective of the newcomers she had been in the middle of yelling another string of curses at the poor head of Section-2 before being interrupted. The redheaded girl doing the interrupting looked slightly abashed but entered nonetheless.

"Asuka," Amanda said. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard what happened," the girl said as she floated over to Soren. "Are you okay Maestro?"

"I am fine fraulein," Soren said, offering Asuka a reassuring smile.

Outside the room, Shinji's head peeked in nervously.

"Umm, excuse us," he said, "but Shikinami-san insisted on coming to see you."

The two pilots had changed back to normal clothes much to Shinji's personal relief.

Amanda sighed but shook her head. "Don't worry about it Shinji. And you and Misato might as well come in too."

"Well seeing as you have other matters to attend to, I shall take my leave," Aramaki said in a rather blatant attempt to escape the auditor's office.

Amanda simply shot him a glare that told all he was not off the hook as he beat a hasty retreat. Misato watched the poor man disappear and shook her head.

"You might want to have some pity on Aramaki," she said. "The poor man's going to have a heart attack if you keep breathing down his neck like this."

"He's responsible for a great many things," Amanda replied. "Any mistake on his part can have catastrophic consequences."

"Maybe so, but if he gets too stressed he might start making simple mistakes," Misato said. "Enough of those and they could be as bad as a big one."

Amanda flicked her hand in a gesture that Misato knew meant the other had got the message so please drop it. Satisfied, she took one of the free seats in the office.

"So, are you really alright?" Misato asked Soren.

The man nodded. "This is not the first time I have been shot at. At least this time around I had backup."

Shinji's eyes widened. "You've been, attacked before?"

Soren actually smiled, albeit ruefully, as he glanced at his wife. "I am married to a UN auditor, Herr Ikari. They tend to attract some rather disreputable attention."

"Like yourself?" Amanda said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I have been accused of such," Soren said without missing a beat. He then glanced over at Asuka. "Onto more pressing matters, Fraulein Langley, please let me know when you have established your schedule. We can then find an appropriate time to continue with your lessons."

Asuka blinked. "Wait, you want to continue tutoring me even in Tokyo?"

"But of course. Just because you are going on active duty does not mean your schooling should be interrupted."

The Second Child was slightly taken aback. "But, but, would I even have time for it? I mean, I have a lot of responsibilities as a pilot!"

"Oh I'm sure something can be worked out," Misato said with a wink.

"Indeed," Soren said. "You may have many battles to come, but do remember what is said to be mightier than the sword."

The pen was not technically a violin bow but Asuka got the point. And it was not like Soren was going to let up on this. Obstinate was another word that could be used to describe the German virtuoso. Still, it was not as if being privately tutored by one of the world's greatest violinists was a bad thing.

"Danke sehr Maestro," Asuka instead said.

For Shinji this exchange was rather illuminating. It was obvious the Second Child thought very highly of Soren and the older German seemed to hold at least a good opinion of Asuka if he was prepared to act as her private violin tutor. While Shinji did not follow the latest developments in the world of classical music, even he knew a little bit about Soren's reputation and history. One such tidbit was that the violinist had no publicly acknowledged students or protégés. If Asuka was one such student however, it made sense that no one would really know about it considering the security measures in place to protect EVA pilots. The only reason Soren was likely to have ever met the Second Child was probably due to his wife.

"Well, seeing as you're okay and Asuka's finally arrived in Tokyo, I think we have good reason to go celebrate," Misato said. "How about it, my treat?"

"Oh, then I want a nice steak dinner!" Asuka proclaimed.

The captain winced very visibly at Asuka's wide smile, likely considering the decimated state her bank account would be in thanks to her impromptu invitation.

"While that is generous of you Misato, I think I can afford to cover the evening's festivities," Soren said, coming to the woman's rescue.

"You sure you want to do that," Asuka said. "It'd have been a good lesson for her to think before she opened her mouth."

"Seeing as how the alternative might be a cheap ramen cart, you might want to let her off the hook this time," Amanda said as she stood. "C'mon, we'll take my car seeing as Soren's is in the shop."

"I'll drive," her husband offered.

"Oh hell no!"

It was rather telling that three distinctive female voices responded in the exact same manner. Having already experienced Misato's driving, Shinji found himself a bit curious as to how the older man had managed to elicit that reaction from his guardian. Another part of him was praying devoutly that he would never find out.

* * *

The monitor showed the five people take one of the elevators up to the parking lot and slide into Amanda's considerably more mundane but perfectly functional Volkswagen Passat. A few minutes passed, the camera having just enough resolution to catch some shuffling of bodies about in the rear before apparently all were satisfied and the car finally started. After that they were gone, headed towards one of the nicer restaurants still open in Tokyo-3.

Gendo continued staring at the monitor even as it reverted to the standard NERV logo and Fuyutsuki waited patiently for his former student to finally give voice to his thoughts. That wait was surprisingly long even for the NERV commander.

"Reimer and Sommer are up to something," he finally said.

"That was never in doubt," Fuyutsuki said with a frown. "Sommer is obviously SEELE's watchdog and Kiel would have never allowed Reimer to marry his granddaughter unless he had proven himself useful in some concrete fashion. That the attempt was on Reimer instead of his wife should have made that abundantly clear."

"And the good doctor has yet to offer an explanation for the pattern orange detected during the firefight," Gendo said unhappily.

"Are we certain that was not just some glitch in the system?" Fuyutsuki offered.

"The MAGI does not make mistakes of that nature whatever its other failings," Gendo stated.

"Then we must look at the facts," Fuyutsuki said. "Reimer was attacked by someone or something that generated a pattern orange AT-field. The only things capable of this that we know of are EVAs. The available possibilities are someone has developed an equivalent and heavily miniaturized system or someone was utilizing an EVA to produce that AT-field."

Gendo grunted. "A miniaturized duplicate might be easier to accept, seeing as how Reimer and the Section-2 agents were able to breach the AT-field with mere bullets. It would certainly be easier to hide than a full-scale EVA."

"But either possibility is extremely disturbing. Still, assuming we accept that logic, the question then becomes who would have the ability to produce something like that. SEELE is certainly a candidate, but why would they attack their own agent in such a blatant manner?"

"That is an excellent question," Gendo said, "and the only answer that makes sense is that it was not SEELE. Whatever else the old men are, they are not completely incompetent. And if SEELE was not behind this, the only other possibility is a third party that we were not aware of."

"But who? No one else besides NERV and SEELE even have access to EVA technology," Fuyutsuki pointed out.

"NERV is immense, professor," Gendo reminded his old mentor. "Not even SEELE can keep track of it all. That is in fact what we are counting on. You and I both know that whatever this thing is, it did not come from NERV-Tokyo. And Sommer seems competent enough that it is unlikely NERV-Berlin or NERV-Hamburg could have developed it without her noticing. That however does leave the American and Chinese branches."

"NERV 2nd Branch," Fuyutsuki said thoughtfully. "It is isolated, remote. Beyond NERV personnel effectively no one else is in the area."

"A distinct possibility," Gendo said. "We will have to investigate. Perhaps the old men might even be of some use in this."

"And what of Reimer and Sommer?"

"We will continue observing them. In fact, increase Reimer's security detail. Such a reaction would be natural after so blatant an attempt and if the need arises gives us the assets necessary to remove him ourselves."

Despite the confidence behind those words Fuyutsuki wondered if it would really be that easy. The German musician had not cowered when under fire, he had drawn his own weapon to defend himself. A man with that kind of will was dangerous no matter what safeguards they might employ. He could only hope they would not find out too late just how dangerous Soren Reimer really was.

* * *

Rei's cellphone ran unexpectedly and the First Child looked at the incoming number. She did not recognize it, though it was a NERV assigned number. The chances of anything else even making it this far was miniscule. She answered, waiting silently for the presumed order to be issued.

"Umm hello? Ayanami? Are you there?"

And there was the second surprise, the person on the phone was not a NERV operator but the Third Child, Shinji Ikari.

"Yes," she said succinctly.

"Are you busy?" Shinji asked. "Some of us are going out for dinner and thought we'd invite you along."

That was a new experience. The only people Rei interacted with were NERV personnel and students at school and even then only in official circumstances. While she could recall a few male classmates expressing interest in engaging in some social activity with her, none of that had seemed to be over any relevance to her duty as a pilot and so she had declined. Over time they had given up and Rei was once again alone in her little sphere. Now however, a boy by the name of Shinji Ikari was once more entering into her periphery. Rei found her curiosity piqued. How close would he ultimately get?

"I have no conflicting engagements," Rei answered.

"Oh, then you can come?" Shinji said, wanting to verify the slightly vague answer.

"There is no reason to decline." As far as Rei knew, there were no standing orders to not socialize with the other pilot.

"That's great," came the slightly relieved response. "Umm, are you at your apartment?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we'll pick you up there. I'll call when we arrive. See you soon Ayanami."

The call ended with a click but Rei did not immediately lower the phone. A part of her felt confused, unsure what she should think about the invitation and the imminent arrival of the Third Child. She looked around the apartment. Its state had not changed much since Shinji's last visit and she recalled a slight look of distress when he saw the place. Perhaps she should tidy up a bit.

* * *

As the car came into sight of the apartment block where Rei lived, Shinji felt a distinctive pressure start building. Looking around, he was actually unable to tell who the source was as Amanda, Asuka, and Soren all seemed to be getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment. Even Misato seemed taken aback.

"Shinji," she said. "Is this really where Rei lives?"

Shinji swallowed nervously. "Umm, yeah. It's, I asked her why she lived here and she said it's because she was told to."

"Told to!?" Asuka exploded. "Was zur Hölle! Who the hell told her to do that!?"

"Umm, probably my father," Shinji said, his voice trailing off as he felt shame start to overcome him.

"This isn't your fault Herr Ikari," Soren suddenly said. The German's voice was eminently calm but the hard edge to it could have cut steel. Maybe even an AT-field. "Your father is obviously even less suited to serve as a guardian than Amanda has hinted at. I presume you will deal with this issue?"

"Oh yes," Amanda said in between grinding her teeth. "Yes, I will most certainly be dealing with this issue."

Stunned at the reactions and then actions that the German couple were planning to take, Shinji worked his jaw trying to figure out what to say.

"Thank you," he finally settled on.

"Shinji, in the future if you ever feel that something is wrong and you don't know what to do, don't hold it in," Amanda said. "Come talk to me. Or Misato. Or even Soren. We'll do whatever we can to help, and trust me, between the three of us we can deal with just about anything."

"That's right!" Asuka agreed. "If Amanda had been here to start with, your father would have never gotten away with this!"

"And if I had been paying closer attention, it wouldn't have taken this long to resolve either," Misato said ruefully.

"You and me both," Amanda said as she pulled up to the curb. "Well, what's past is past. We just need to make sure that the future sees no repetition of such mistakes."

Shinji nodded in appreciation. "Umm, but, could you let me talk to Ayanami about moving her?"

* * *

When Rei arrived at the street she found both Shinji and Amanda waiting outside the car. Rei had only had minimal contact with the UN Auditor-General previously, all of them related to work. As such she knew little about the foreign woman. Then again Shinji had not specified who the 'we' were in his call, though if Rei had bothered guessing she would have thought the Third Child's guardian was the most logical possibility.

"Ayanami," Shinji greeted, looking somewhat tense.

"Ikari-kun," Rei responded.

"Umm, I know this is a bit sudden, but we were thinking of having you move to a nicer place."

Rei blinked. Indeed this was quite sudden.

"Is there a problem with my current residence?"

"Well, it doesn't really look the safest," Shinji tried.

Rei tilted her head. "The structural integrity is sound and Section-2 maintains a presence."

"Perhaps so," Amanda said, "but there are additional factors to take into account. For example, this apartment block is relatively isolated from other parts of the city, meaning it is also isolated from various emergency services in case the onsite Section-2 personnel are insufficient."

That made sense to Rei and so she nodded. Shinji relaxed visibly at that, something that did not pass the girl's notice.

"We'll deal with the paperwork tomorrow," Amanda said, "but tonight after dinner we'll come back here, get your basic essentials, and have you stay with us."

Rei looked over at the car and noticed Misato, Shinji's guardian also present.

"Would it not be more appropriate for my temporary lodgings to be with an individual already designated as the guardian of a pilot?"

Shinji made a slight choking sound and Rei thought she saw the figure in the front passenger seat smack himself on the forehead. Amanda managed to limit her reaction to a cough.

"Captain Katsuragi's current residence is not set up to accommodate another guest right now," she said. "It would be more practical to have you live with us while we sort out a more permanent residence for you than to try to reconfigure the captain's place for a short-term stay."

A perfectly reasonable explanation yet Rei did not feel entirely satisfied. But as she could not see any particular flaw with it, she nodded in acceptance. Shinji relaxed again and smiled at her. The expression caused something to stir in the girl and she found herself returning it before even realizing what she was doing. Another thing she did not notice was an auburn haired girl watching the entire exchange intently.

* * *

"So all of you met in college?" Shinji asked as their orders arrived.

The place they ended up at was a rather nice restaurant that specialized in, not surprisingly, Western cuisine. Fortunately it did not require formal wear and so there was not a major rush to try to find something for Rei or Asuka. The German girl's belongings were still on their way over from Europe.

"It was a brief exchange program that Soren and I participated in when we were seniors," Amanda said as she prepared to get to work on the nice, thick steak laid out before her. "We came over to Japan for a semester."

Asuka and Misato had similar looking slices before them while Soren and Shinji had settled for some battered fish. Rei on the other hand had a spaghetti dish that had a soft layer of melted cheese, butter, and herbs as its topping.

"We stayed in touch after Soren and I left and a few years later Misato and Ryoji joined us in Germany."

"Were you and Soren already together by then?" Shinji asked.

"Those two were all over each other at the university," Misato put in.

"Oh please, you and Ryoji had nothing on us," Amanda retorted. "I seem to recall during your junior year the two of you missed class for a week because-"

"That's enough of that," Misato quickly cut her off. "Remember, there are kids here."

"Indeed dear," Soren said as he refilled Amanda's wineglass. "The two of us should set a good example for all our juniors."

The disgusted glare that Asuka was shooting the Japanese woman turned into a smirk as Soren scored on her. Misato on the other hand looked ruefully at the German man as he stoically continued working away at his meal. And then he refilled her wineglass as well and Misato accepted the olive branch with a wiry smile. Soren could be quite charismatic, in both word and deed, when he so wished.

"Anyway, eventually the three of us ended up assigned to the newly reorganized NERV-Berlin, Misato as part of the actual staff and Ryoji and I as UN monitors. That was when we first met Asuka as well."

"I see," Shinji said, sneaking a glance at the Second Child. She immediately noticed it.

"And what are you looking at, Third Child?" she challenged.

"Umm, nothing, just, wondering when Reimer-san began tutoring you in violin," Shinji said hurriedly.

Asuka did not seem terribly convinced but before she could respond Soren intervened.

"Fraulein Langley was introduced to me by my wife," he said. "She believed that the fraulein might benefit from some additional activities beyond her duties at NERV."

"And Asuka was too young at the time for me to teach her how to toss people around in the dojo," Amanda said playfully.

"Well I'm not anymore," Asuka said, her attention still on Shinji as she cheerfully continued. "It'll be good to see just how much progress Amanda's beaten into you, Third."

Though he managed to hide it, Shinji winced internally at the thought of actually facing the German girl in a sparring match. Their little impromptu duel aboard Over the Rainbow had already impressed upon him her speed and even if her blows had felt somewhat light, any advantage Shinji might possess with his greater bulk would be easily offset by Asuka's greater experience.

"That actually might not be a bad idea," Amanda said thoughtfully. "You'll need to keep up with your martial arts training anyway and combining the sessions would save some time. Though, I would hate to lose the one-on-one attention that I can give right now."

"I'm sure something can be arranged," Misato said. "If we really wanted to, we could probably clear Soren to come down and act as a co-instructor. He's probably gone through most of the background checks anyway just by being married to you."

For some reason Asuka seemed to pale at the thought and suddenly found her meal of extreme interest. Shinji found that rather curious as he glanced at the older man. True Soren was well built and his physique certainly looked capable of handling things for himself, but it had to be more than that if Asuka seemed concerned about facing him in the dojo.

"Umm, Reimer-san, you also know karate?" Shinji asked.

Asuka snorted, surprising Shinji with her sudden response. "Dummkopf, do you really not know? The Maestro was the European collegiate karate champion two years running before he stopped participating."

In fact Shinji had not known that and he looked at the German in surprise. Soren simply shrugged however.

"It was a passing hobby. Amanda has dedicated far more time to mastering the art than myself. I am somewhat out of practice and my endurance is likely far short of hers."

"Whatever, you could probably still hand half of Section-2 their asses," Misato said and glanced at Amanda. "Remember when the karate club at Shin Tokyo University asked him to help with a few demonstrations and practices?"

Amanda nodded. "They practically begged Soren to go and kick their asses, even though I was still practicing and could have helped out too. They had a bunch of misogynist pricks in that club."

"Now Amanda, don't be too harsh on them," Misato said. "I seem to recall you kicking their asses as well once you started attending practice. By the time you left most of them were practically worshipping the ground you walked on."

"Well, I guess," Amanda muttered.

"To measure oneself with others is a means of growing," Soren said. "But to forget or dismiss others' achievements in light of your own, that is folly and the road to self-destruction."

Despite his attention being fixed on Soren, Shinji noticed a slight look of self-reproach in Asuka's eyes. Recalling what Amanda had said about Asuka's competitive nature, Shinji wondered if the violinist had ever had need to scold Asuka or admonish her for it. The answer was probably, but Asuka still seemed to hold her instructor in high regard so she was probably trying to take those words to heart and understood that sometimes she fell somewhat short of that ideal. That was encouraging and he felt a bit more confident in his ability to handle the lively Second Child. Speaking of others however.

"Umm, I'm sorry if we've been ignoring you Ayanami," he said to the other pilot. "I hope you're enjoying yourself?"

"The evening has been, stimulating," Rei offered.

Shinji was getting better and better at reading the subtle tones and depths that composed Rei's expressions. If Rei did not like something she would very bluntly ignore or reject it. If she was not opposed to something she would simply go along. If she liked something however, it often seemed like the First Child would struggle for words to describe that sensation.

"I'm glad," Shinji said with a smile.

Asuka regarded the pair, not sure what to make of the passive First Child but finding herself for some completely inexplicable reason mildly irritated at the ease with which she drew the Third's attention. Their interactions while somewhat jilted and unsteady somehow still looked completely natural. It was almost as if, Asuka frowned.

"Are you two related or something?"

The reactions around the table were wholly unexpected as Shinji's jaw simply dropped, Misato's eyes widened, and Amanda and Soren nearly choked on whatever they were in the midst of swallowing when Asuka asked her question. Only Rei remained subdued but even she looked confused.

"Where did that come from?" Misato demanded.

"Well, the Third's paying a lot of attention to the First but they sure don't look like a couple. But if you pay attention to their features, they look kind of alike."

Shinji found himself staring at the First Child and again was hit by a subtle sense of nostalgia. There really was something familiar about Rei, but Shinji just could not figure out what elicited this.

"I am not aware of any familial relationship with Ikari-kun," Rei stated.

"Well, I don't recall seeing anything about Rei's family in her profile," Misato said. "Then again, that profile was really, really thin. What about you Amanda?"

The UN auditor was resting her tilted head on one arm and for some reason looked drained. "Hmm? No, not that I know of. NERV is supposed to provide me with any information I ask for, but I doubt I got anything different than you."

"Umm, but could you look for more?" Shinji asked.

Amanda straightened and looked at him in surprise. "Why do you want me to do that?"

"I, I'd like to know if Ayanami has anyone else out there for her," Shinji said. "I mean, apparently no one but my father was responsible for her, and well…"

"Quite," Amanda said, her mouth flat. "I can certainly look into it Shinji, but do remember. Family is not just about blood ties."

"I know," Shinji said. "I suppose I really should know that. But, if Ayanami is related to me somehow, well I guess it doesn't matter, I'd still look out for her."

Misato was looking prouder and prouder at him while Amanda's expression was hard to describe. It was not displeasure but it did not look entirely happy either, which confused Shinji. Finally Amanda sighed and smiled at him.

"I'll see what I can do, Shinji."

"Thank you Amanda-san."

"No problem." Amanda glanced over at the Second Child who had been watching the entire exchange intently. "I'd say you've got your work cut out for you, Asuka."

Slam. "WHAT!?"

"Fraulein," Soren said sternly.

Asuka flushed and sat back down but she continued to stare daggers at the older woman. Amanda for her part looked like her good humor had returned as she downed the rest of her glass that Soren then dutifully refilled. Shinji did a double take. Between Amanda and Misato the second bottle of wine was almost empty whereas the German man's wineglass was completely clean. Despite what Shinji knew about his guardian's alcohol tolerance he was certain not even she was reckless enough to drive while drunk. He glanced over at Soren and when the German noticed the gaze simply winked at the boy. Shinji already admired Soren, not just because he was Amanda's husband or a famous violinist, but also because what he had seen of the man's character was encouraging. After today he would also develop a healthy respect for the man's cunning.

* * *

While driving Soren obeyed all traffic laws and rarely went more than 10 or 15 higher than the speed limit. By the time he stopped in front of Misato's apartment Shinji's legs were shaking so badly the Third Child could barely stand. Even Rei was looking slightly more pale and Shinji could not help but wonder at that achievement. The German was not a bad driver by any means, in fact anyone even slightly less skilled would have likely crashed the car when attempting the sharp turns, tight squeezes, and countless other maneuvers that while within the bounds of legality must have at least qualified as reckless endangerment. In fact when Soren had squeezed past a Tokyo-3 police patrol car Shinji was almost certain they would be pulled over. That they had not been astonished him until he remembered that Amanda's car had an official NERV license plate. For better or worse, NERV was effectively above the law. Somehow Shinji felt somewhat ambivalent about that level of privilege and power.

Once he was certain he would not topple over, Shinji leaned against the front passenger door.

"Please take it a bit more gently from here," he said to Soren, casting glances at the rear seats.

Soren actually chuckled. "As you wish, Herr Ikari."

Shinji watched the car disappear and Soren was driving much more sedately. Still Shinji hoped that he would never need to be driven anywhere by the German again. Something told him that much like his earlier prayer today, this one would also go unanswered.

* * *

As Amanda Sommer finished presenting her proposal Kozo Fuyutsuki could not help but mentally curse that Ikari had left late last night for some business overseas. The timing was curious to say the least, though the chain of events that Amanda described as leading up to this seemed perfectly innocent and coincidental. His paranoia might have been working overtime, but someone as smooth an operator as Sommer would almost certainly have been able to arrange all of this and still make it look completely natural.

"Captain Aramaki agrees with the assessment and mentioned that the agents detailed to Rei's screen would also appreciate a move to a more hospitable locale for the First Child's residence," Amanda concluded. "Now, if you would sign here and make the transfer official?"

Fuyutsuki glanced down at the paper Amanda slid to him and looked back up at the woman.

"Am I to believe that Rei's personal wellbeing is your actual motive in this transfer?"

"As the UN Auditor-General I am responsible for the wellbeing of all NERV personnel here," Amanda said with a completely straight face. "Considering Pilot Ayanami's importance to-"

"Enough." Fuyutsuki's patience was wearing thin.

Amanda cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, little moved by the vice-commander's tone.

"We both know who you really represent Sommer-san, so let us not waste any more time with semantics."

"Very well professor," Amanda said, crossing her legs and clasping her hands. "Let us be frank for the record."

To which both knew Amanda referred to not just the bugs in Gendo's office but also the recorder she was likely wearing now.

"Commander Ikari was granted his current position because at the time he was the only one who understood his wife's work completely enough to continue it. He was given a certain amount of latitude to pursue his own personal goals so long as those goals did not interfere with the greater plan for Instrumentality. It has however become increasingly obvious that certain such personal projects can pose an obstruction to our vision of Instrumentality. That being the case, we now require certain assurances that the commander has not overstepped his bounds."

The statement was blunt, direct, and near insulting in the disdain it displayed for Ikari. Fuyutsuki was almost impressed, but he had seen too many blustering politicians and bureaucrats in his day to truly take Sommer's statement at face value.

"Ikari has adhered to the Committee's roadmap for Instrumentality without fault," Fuyutsuki said. "Any deviations you might notice are simply adapting to the circumstances as they arise. No plan is perfect after all and blind adherence to a rigid set of conditions simply sets the stage for catastrophic failure when conditions go beyond previous predictions."

"That is not in dispute," Amanda said. "What is also not in dispute is the worthlessness of blind faith. Trust, but verify. We know that the commander will continue guiding the plan along and defeat the Angels. That condition after all is inviolable for all scenarios. But at this point we have no need for Ikari to do anything beyond fulfill the specific roles that have been delegated to him. Anything that is superfluous to those roles we will relieve from him the burden of devoting any attention to, thus allowing Ikari to devote himself solely to things under his remit and eliminating the possibility of misunderstandings regarding his true intentions."

Fuyutsuki paled slightly. Perhaps he should not have been so dismissive of Sommer after all. The trap was remarkably elegant, leave Ikari in command of NERV to continue dealing with the Angels but slowly reduce or eliminate his control over key aspects of the Human Instrumentality Project. With so many parallel tracks of development SEELE had a certain amount of redundancy, albeit thin, with which to fall back upon. He and Ikari on the other hand only had what was immediately available to them at NERV-Tokyo and their margin of error was effectively nonexistent. Sommer's intent was to obviously eliminate that margin outright and if she could manage it also cripple Ikari's ability to influence Instrumentality in any way, shape, or form. It was a dangerous tack to take with Ikari but the German was obviously convinced she could achieve it.

"I will need to consult with the commander before providing any final approval," Fuyutsuki temporalized.

"Of course," Amanda said, her smile returning. "Just be aware that if he declines to approve the transfer, I will be filing a formal request with the committee with the necessary documentation to demonstrate that a transfer of guardianship is the most appropriate course of action in this case. Abusive relationships are often not always recognized by those engaged in them after all."

So the trap had been laid all the way back then, Fuyutsuki mused. Little wonder that Sommer had shown an interest in the younger Ikari and effectively taken the boy under her wing. It would appear that the elder Ikari would need to drastically revise his approach to the current scenario if he did not want to lose control of it outright.

"That is your prerogative," Fuyutsuki said, concluding the meeting at the same time.

Amanda accepted the dismissal with a nod and stood.

"Oh yes, one more thing," she said. "I just wanted to convey my thanks for the increase in my husband's protective detail." The smile showed no hint of any such gratitude. "I am certain that they will be most diligent in their duties."

As Amanda took her leave Fuyutsuki felt himself sinking back into the chair with a singular thought. What had they let into their midst with Soren Reimer and Amanda Sommer.

* * *

The next day at school started out normally enough. Rei was already in the classroom when Shinji entered and so he could only assume Asuka was also somewhere around, likely in the faculty office waiting with the teacher. It would however appear only he had come to that conclusion.

"Really, she may look hot but all she's got are looks," Toji complained as they entered.

"Well we'll never see her again," Kensuke assured his friend.

"But prof, you'll have to see her at work," Toji said to Shinji. "Man, sucks to be you."

Shinji sighed as he took his seat. He really did not have the heart to break it to them.

"Get to your seats!" Hikari commanded as the bell began to ring. Moments later the door opened and their homeroom teacher entered.

"Rise! Bow! Be seated!"

"Class, we have a new student joining us today," he said, causing murmurs to spread and looks of consternation to build on Kensuke and Toji's faces. "Shikinami-san, please enter."

The murmurs turned into excitement as the boys in the class caught sight of the stunningly exotic redhead that entered. As she turned to face the class for the briefest moment a smirk crossed her face as she caught sight of the simultaneous look of absolute horror plastered across the faces of two of the boys. The smirk quickly disappeared in a dazzling smile before she proceeded to write her name in cursive English.

"I'm Shikinami Asuka Langley," she said cheerfully. "Charmed."

Shinji sighed once more but could not help return Asuka's smile. There was just something about her, an overpowering brightness that threatened to overwhelm him and yet he simply could not look away. Shinji still did not understand what that was, but seeing as the Second Child would be here a while he would likely have plenty of time to figure it out.

End of Chapter 5

Hmm, I think I can maintain a two chapter per week publishing for at least two more weeks. Even if Chapter 11 is giving me some trouble. And no, this will not be the last Angel battle that I basically skip. There are at least two more that I don't intend to cover. Well, two that happened in canon. One of those I think will surprise some of you.

The first big wrinkle to the master plan, or at least the first Soren and Amanda are aware of, has appeared. So, who is this green eyed woman with short brown hair that just tried to kill Soren? Or I suppose the better question is what is she? Oh and Soren still has quite a few tricks up his sleeve that he hasn't shown yet. After all, he is married to a UN auditor.

So just to get it out of the way, I am going to refrain from confirming or denying any theories that are posted in reviews for the time being. The reason is because there are a couple of, developments, in the chapter 11/12 range that will reveal a bit more about what's going on. I don't want to spoil too much, but feel free to continue speculating. Once those chapters are out you can look back and see how you did.

I've read other 'peggy-sue' fics, some of varying quality. How much my own falls into that category might see reevaluation by readers in the future, but anyway. I'll comment more on some common points as we get other relevant scenes, but right now I want to comment on the relationship between the pilots. Most fic authors try to figure out some way to fix that relationship so that Asuka isn't at the throats of the other two pilots and Rei is more looked after by the other two. This is done through a variety of ways at varying levels of convincingness. The really tricky part is how to get Asuka to stop acting like a jerk. Some people have her adopt a sort of protective stance towards Rei, otherwise have her take a kind of live and let live but I'll still cover your ass approach. I find the latter to be more convincing simply because Asuka, at her core, is still incredibly competitive. While it may be possible for her and Rei to establish a rapport and understanding, Asuka would never coddle anyone. It's really not her style. So take that as a guide to how that particular relationship will develop. Not that there won't be some surprises along the way. Though I do need to figure out a way to give Rei some more screentime. Or maybe it just feels like she doesn't have enough considering how many characters I need to juggle.

This chapter takes place over a very short period. The next couple will speed up a bit more, but we'll be swinging back and forth between focusing on a brief period to longer stretches.

Anyway, leave a review if you enjoyed it.

Z98


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Passaggio

It had been a busy couple of months for Lieutenant-Colonel Kayabuki. The arrival of the first two Angels had been a somewhat harrowing experience and the long list of casualties, fatal and otherwise, that the UN and JSSDF had suffered was not doing wonders for morale. At the same time the assistance Kayabuki's battalion provided against what was being designated the Third Angel and NERV's appropriation and partially successful employment of the prototype positron cannon had put some heart back into them. Rumors along the grapevine even suggested that plans were being made to try and expedite development of the cannon, to perhaps give humanity a weapon besides the EVAs that could reasonably defeat an Angel.

That however was above Kayabuki's paygrade and the lieutenant-colonel had been content to watch over her battalion while basking in the glory that came from actually hurting the Third Angel in conjunction with Unit 01. So far the only other force that could claim similar achievements was the UN Pacific Fleet, though if the rumors still emerging about the just concluded battle were true their contribution had required sinking two entire battleships never mind all the other ships that were destroyed by the Angel. Scuttlebutt had wasted little time on that one. Kayabuki was fairly certain that if nothing else the bean counters would far prefer more contributions like hers than the navy's.

The summons to the office of Major General Masashiro Hiraga had thus not come as much of a surprise and Kayabuki snapped to attention upon entering.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Kayabuki reporting as ordered sir."

"At ease," the general said.

Kayabuki obeyed but still remained respectfully attentive.

"First of all, allow me to congratulate you on a job well done," Hiraga said. "Not only did your battalion emerge completely intact in the confrontation with the Second Angel, you also provided a not insignificant contribution in the engagement against the Third."

"Thank you sir," Kayabuki said, false modesty be damned. If someone you respected said you did a good job in the military, you accepted it or risk decreasing your own chances for future promotion.

"In some ways you may have been a bit too successful," Hiraga said with a rueful smile. "It appears that the United Nations has decided that a supplemental conventional force may be of some use in the defense of Tokyo-3. As the city is in Japan, they have requested that elements from the JSSDF form the basis of that force. You specifically were named as a potential candidate to command one of the formations."

Kayabuki blinked. Now that was something of a surprise, though she had yet to determine whether it was welcome or not.

"Would this assignment mean a transfer from the JSSDF to the UN, sir?" Kayabuki asked.

"It would," Hiraga answered.

That explained why it was General Hiraga, the commanding officer of the regular Self-Defense Force's Eastern Army and liaison to the United Nations, talking about this with her instead of someone from the Strategic Self-Defense Force. Some people still found it odd that it was an SDF general instead of an SSDF officer that dealt with the UN forces stationed in Japan, but that particular bureaucratic battle had been settled with the reasoning that since the UN forces were operating within Japan it was a matter under SDF jurisdiction. The excuse was threadbare to say the least but it served its purpose, letting those select individuals who knew the real reason keep it under wraps.

The general himself was also a good sort. Despite his position he had not been one of the officers that oversaw the disastrous encounter with the Second Angel. Instead Hiraga had recommended only a probing attack to get a read on the Angel's basic capabilities and let NERV handle the rest. Even taking into account his good working relationship with the general in overall command of the Strategic Self-Defense Force, the JSSDF officers had stopped just short of calling him a coward before charging forth and getting their own units badly mauled. Hiraga's sound judgment likely still rankled but his seniority made it impossible to ignore the fact that he had been right.

"I have the pleasure however of assuring you that any seniority you accrue while part of the UN command structure will be recognized if and when you ever transfer back to the JSSDF," Hiraga assured Kayabuki, a not minor consideration.

Kayabuki had climbed to her current commissioned rank from a simple enlisted position, a climb that was all the harder because of the still prevalent patriarchal leanings of Japanese society. She had had far fewer sponsors within the upper ranks and what little support she did garner tended to be almost condescending in nature. Most of them had expected her to eventually settle for a staff position, prestigious in name but not anything exciting. Kayabuki had however proven them wrong when she applied for and ultimately received a field command.

Quite a few of the more conservative elements in the Japanese military and defense ministry would have loved to sideline her if just to make sure no other women began entertaining such notions and a lateral transfer to the UN might have offered such an opportunity. Not even they however could get away with that with the promise that Hiraga had now extended to her. Even worse from their perspective, if Kayabuki was anywhere near as successful while part of the UN hierarchy as she might have been had not politics impeded her progress in the JSSDF, she might well return with a command rank that they really could not ignore. For men of such little imagination that would be a true nightmare. The thought of fueling such fears elicited a wide grin on Kayabuki's face.

"Well with an offer like that, how could I possibly refuse sir?"

Hiraga chuckled. "Perhaps you should hear the entire thing out first. The proposed force will start with a regimental sized unit, organized into four battalions. My understanding is that the mooted composition is one armored, two mechanized, and an engineering battalion to provide support. Artillery support will be provided by Tokyo-3's own fixed defenses." Kayabuki grimaced, a reaction that did not escape the general. "Yes, I know, we're trying to convince the bureaucrats that a mobile element would not be redundant. We might just get through seeing as how so much of those fixed defenses were destroyed by the Fourth Angel."

Kayabuki nodded in acknowledgement of the point. It would likely take months to restore all of the installations that had been destroyed in the diversionary attack and until then heavy fire support would be thin, even ignoring the fact that fixed guns tended not to survive for very long in an engagement as the Fourth Angel had so helpfully demonstrated.

"As for you, Lieutenant-Colonel Kayabuki," Hiraga said, his smile reappearing. "You have been nominated for overall command of the 597th UN Regiment, Sagami Province."

It took Kayabuki a few seconds to register the last couple of words. When she did, her jaw dropped and Hiraga's grin grew wider.

"S-sir!?" Kayabuki finally recovered. "Command of the regiment!?"

Hiraga nodded. "Indeed. If you accept, your rank upon completion of your transfer to UN Command will be colonel. Note that this will not be a mere brevet promotion, you will be spending time in grade of your field rank."

Kayabuki worked her jaws for a few moments but finally snapped it shut. "Thank you sir."

"Thank yourself," Hiraga said. "Your dedication and skill have been evident for some time now and it is to my deep regret that our nation has not provided you your due reward."

This time Kayabuki was the one smiling. "Thank you sir." She cocked her head to the side as a thought occurred to her. "Sir, have any decisions been made about which elements Japan will contribute to this new force?"

Hiraga sighed resignedly. "Suzaku is going to kill me for this, but yes, you can ask for volunteers from your current unit."

The smile grew wider and Kayabuki repeated herself for a third time. "Thank you sir!"

* * *

A knock sounded on Amanda's door and the woman absentmindedly called out, "Come in."

The door slid open to reveal a ponytailed man wearing a similar uniform to Amanda, trading the skirt for a pair of matching pants of course.

"Ah, Ryoji," Amanda greeted her old friend.

"Yo," Kaji said as he entered. "I thought I'd pay my respects to my fellow UN conspirator."

Amanda snorted as she set aside the document she had been perusing. "Yeah, sure. Have a seat."

"My thanks."

"So how long will you be here for?" Amanda asked.

"Not sure yet," Kaji replied. "My errand's over but I haven't received any new orders from on high so I'm thinking I'll hang about in Tokyo-3 for a bit."

"Misato know about that yet?"

"Haven't had a chance to tell her," the man admitted.

"Well I'm sure she'll be thrilled," Amanda said dryly.

"I can only hope," Kaji said with a grin. "So how have you been? I hear you've made some waves since taking up your post."

"Just doing my job. We're not here to coddle or soothe anyone's egos after all."

"No, no one would ever accuse you of that," Kaji agreed. "How is Soren by the way? I heard about the incident."

Amanda's eyes darkened. "Someone tried to kill my husband and once we find out who it was, I am going to make them rue the day they were ever born."

The UN inspector chuckled. "That I have no doubt of. I'm just a bit surprised they'd go after him?"

Amanda cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Soren may be famous, but his line of work hardly warrants someone sending a gunman after him. Ours on the other hand…"

"We're already exploring that angle," Amanda assured her colleague. "Unfortunately the hitman got away and we weren't able to get a positive ID."

"Ballistics didn't tell you anything?"

"You know, the strangest thing," Amanda said. "The gunman was using the same ammo type as the Section-2 agents."

Kaji frowned. "An inside job?"

"We don't think so. Section-2 went through all registered gun movement in Japan for the last five years and so far everything's been accounted for. I've been double checking their work and haven't seen any mistakes as of yet."

"So a black market weapon then?"

"Possibly, but that's a rabbit hole of its own. Even assuming pistols that fire that caliber were seized in a raid, there's no telling whether it's just simple coincidence or if we actually have a lead."

"Looks like you could use some help in chasing down all these loose ends then."

An eyebrow rose. "Are you offering?"

"Well since I'm here I might as well make myself useful."

Amanda appeared to consider it before finally smiling. "I don't see any harm. I'll forward you the reports that Section-2 has compiled so far. You can head down to HR and let them know I want a temporary office assigned to you."

Kaji chuckled. "Making your influence known already, eh?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Amanda said. "I simply do my best to motivate others to put their all into their own responsibilities."

"Sure," Kaji said with a grin as he stood. "Well, I better start cracking on those reports."

"Just one thing," Amanda said. "Misato told me that you bailed on the fleet in the middle of the fight against the Angel."

The change was slight and disappeared almost immediately but Amanda saw the flicker in Kaji's complexion.

"I had a pretty urgent errand I needed to perform," he said. "And I had confidence that Misato and the kids could deal with the situation."

"Well whatever that errand was I hope it was worth it," Amanda said. "Misato's pretty pissed about it."

With that Amanda picked up the report once more as if the matter was closed. Kaji nodded in acknowledgment of the point and took his leave of the office. The grin on his face was gone.

* * *

The appearance of the Angels had consequences worldwide. One of the more painful repercussions was the cutting of aid money to various destitute countries to fund the development, construction, operation, and repair of the Evangelions. To people in those nations it was little comfort that giant robots were fighting to save humanity as a whole when their own families were wasting away. Surprisingly relief came not long after, containers of foodstuffs began arriving that bore the logo of a dawning sun instead of the ubiquitous olive branches and globe of the UN. The source of this bounty remained somewhat opaque but to the people of these nations that hardly mattered. A lifeline had been extended to them and they were not about to forsake it.

For others the appearance of the Angels was almost a boon. The need to defend against them and the fear their power inspired were great drivers of industry. Arms companies worldwide began proposing new miracle weapons that could slay these mighty titans, weapons that of course were expensive to both build and maintain. Those that criticized such an approach were simply directed to the Evangelions themselves as successful examples. Then came the humiliation of the Jet Alone program and the decimation of the UN Pacific Fleet. Governments worldwide reevaluated whether any conventional weapons system was a match for the Angels to begin with, much less cost effective enough to procure. The arms companies were forced to abandon their grandiose visions and settle for the somewhat less lucrative contracts for additional purchases of tried and true weapons. A few of the more promising new systems continued low level development but were retargeted for use against human foes instead of the Angels.

The remaining great powers themselves also had to make new accommodations. One firmly established fact was that these Angels possessed some kind of defense that rendered ineffective all weapons all the way up to weapons of mass destruction. It was humbling in many ways to realize that despite humanity's great capacity for destruction, something else out there possessed an even greater capacity. Nevertheless humanity appeared to be persevering and with each victory achieved by the Evangelions the fear of extinction that defeat would entail lessened. With that lessening however came thoughts of the future, a luxury that many were now indulging in at the international conference currently underway in Geneva.

Officially convened under the auspices of the UN Security Council and the Committee for Human Instrumentality, the conference saw the gathering of leaders from all of the remaining major powers. The United States, Canada, Russia, China, a smattering of nations under the semi-unified banner of the European Community, token representatives from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and what was left of the Middle East, and of course Japan herself were all present. Here they spoke of the future, planning for what would happen after the defeat of the Angels and already plotting how the world might yet be re-divided amongst the haves and have nots. Many of the representatives knew that such talk was inconsequential, that any arrangements or concessions made at the conference would be null and void come the promised day. Others however were playing a longer game, counting on that very assuredness amongst their colleagues, compatriots, and counterparts in order to build a more lasting foundation.

As the head of Germany's intelligence agency General Margaret Klinge might have seemed an odd choice as a European delegate for so public a conference. The major general was however quite photogenic, exuding a maternal feel that put even the most jaded reporter at ease. More than one person that met her that day watched their step not out of fear of the spymaster before them but the mother figure that seemed to lurk beneath the general's smiling face. For many such individuals it was a very confusing experience. President Kavan Franklin did not have this problem at all however.

"General Klinge, it is a pleasure to see you once again," the elderly statesman said with an extended hand.

Klinge took and shook the president's hand with a broad smile. "Mr. President. I see you've slipped your minders again."

That was only partially true. There was no way the Secret Service would ever allow their primary charge to simply disappear on them, but this time around they were at least maintaining a respectful distance from the president of the United States as he exchanged pleasantries with an old acquaintance.

"They've learned to live with an old man's foibles," Franklin said, eyes twinkling. "Besides, who would dare intrude upon this place with ill intent with the security services of a dozen nations at the ready?"

"Fanatics have all the daring they need and none of the reason to make good use of it. But I suppose you're right, the wine is too good not to enjoy this evening."

Franklin chuckled as he accepted the glass the general extended him. Whereas Klinge's silver mane could still be attributed to the stresses of her duty, the president truly was putting on the years. While he maintained a head full of hair, they were well and truly grayed. Still, the lack of a youthful face had certainly not hurt the president at the polls. His professorly pose made him seem quite likeable and trustworthy and in a time as trying as this those qualities made him all the more appealing.

Though Franklin and his running mate had not been SEELE's first choice for the US presidency and vice presidency, the man had demonstrated that he was ultimately a pragmatist and went along with SEELE's recommendations for key cabinet positions, a realistic stance considering the Speaker of the House was firmly in the cabal's pocket. With defense, state, energy, and treasury under their control, the old men saw little reason to care whom Franklin chose to head departments of lesser consequence such as interior, commerce, and veteran affairs. As was becoming a recurring pattern however, SEELE was often blind to things outside of their immediate ambitions.

"I heard that your Congress is being argumentative about the appropriations for building new EVAs," Klinge said in between sips.

"They've never liked being dictated to by foreign parties," Franklin said with a shrug. "Representative Westmann will get the votes he needs soon enough, even if he has to parcel out contract work for the EVAs more widely than originally anticipated. Having so many disparate firms producing components might lead to some integration issues, but those should be tolerable with the appropriate process management."

Translation, additional points of failure that could be exploited. Klinge nodded in acknowledgment of the point.

"Well, any complex project is bound to run into some difficulties. I hope that your own domestic programs have at least seen smooth sailing."

"Remarkably so considering all the moving bits," Franklin said with a smile. "Assuming Murphy can see to giving us a reprieve for the next four months or so, I expect the maiden voyage to live up to expectations."

"That is good to hear."

"Indeed." Noticing one of his security shadows maneuvering closer, Franklin smiled and raised his glass. "Well general, to a new dawn."

Their glasses clinked.

* * *

The training session with Amanda had been moved up earlier in the day thanks to a lack of a sync test, a fact that Shinji was more than a bit thankful for. Breathing in LCL was still something he was not entirely used to and the way it reminded him of blood was unsettling. By the time he had changed and arrived in the gym however the German woman was already there. In fact, two German women were present alongside a German man of Shinji's acquaintance. While Asuka was seated cross-legged at the side of the practice mat, Amanda and Soren were in the midst of a sparring match that Shinji could barely keep up with.

The two wore arm and leg protectors but no other protection despite the fact that at least half of the strikes each one launched were at head level. Shinji was fairly certain that if any of their blows had actually landed a concussion would be the least of the consequences. Yet soon enough Shinji found himself lost in the fluidity of their motions, the grace of their pose, and ultimately the symmetry of their dance. The two responded perfectly to the other's motion, striking without pause at openings that Shinji did not even know existed until after the defender had closed it with an equally quick block. Here were two masters of the art and in simply watching them Shinji felt he was absorbing some subtle lesson with every move.

Asuka seemed equally engrossed in the sight and had sat unmoving since Shinji's entrance. The boy noticed that in addition to her gi Asuka also wore a purple belt. He on the other hand had a white one that Amanda had just recently presented him with. Shinji walked over and sank down next to the girl.

"Shikinami-san," he greeted.

Asuka glanced over at him. "Yo Third." A slight smile. "You didn't chicken out."

"Of course not," Shinji retorted. "I wouldn't want to disappoint sensei."

"Yeah, neither would I," Asuka admitted as she glanced back at the sparring couple.

Now it was Shinji's turn to glance at the girl. "How long have you trained with Amanda-san?"

"Hmm, about three years I guess," Asuka replied. "We didn't really do any sparring until last year though, before that it was mostly kata and techniques. Though she didn't let me start trying breaks until last year as well come to think of it."

"Breaks?"

"You know, breaking boards," Asuka said. "It's fun, really lets you work out some stress."

"Oh, I see" Shinji said. "Amanda-san's never mentioned doing that to me."

"Is that so?" Asuka said playfully, leaning towards the boy without taking her eyes off the duel. "Well that doesn't surprise me, you're still a tad too scrawny to really break stuff."

It was then that one of Soren's attacks finally connected and Amanda was thrown down onto the ground with a thud. Shinji's eyes widened as the woman lay motionless and he was about to scramble to his feet when Soren walked over to his wife. The man seemed unconcerned however and just as he reached her Amanda's feet twisted about and landed a solid kick against Soren's thigh. Despite his heavier bulk Soren nearly toppled over from the unexpected angle. He remained on his feet however, shifting his weight to remain balanced for what little good that did as Amanda literally threw herself off the ground and crashed into her husband. The next moment Soren was on his back, pinned by Amanda's body. The older woman glanced over at the watching pilots and grinned.

"Lesson of the day," she said. "Do not let down your guard just because your enemy appears to be down. Try not to forget."

The two pilots nodded dumbly, unsure of what else to say. They had just been given a spectacular demonstration after all and hopefully that would be enough to make it stick.

* * *

The hot shower after practice had gone a long way to help loosen Asuka's muscles. While she had not exactly skipped her training during the interim where Amanda was at Tokyo-3 and Asuka herself still back in Germany, her mentor had a way of pushing Asuka to her limits that the other instructors never quite seemed to master. Then there was the nature of today's exercise in which Amanda and run her and Shinji through a series of simultaneous combinations, trying to get them to adjust themselves to accommodate their respective reach. Asuka due to her greater experience was the more flexible one, but Shinji was a bit taller and held the natural advantages that entailed.

As a team building exercise it was not terribly different than the drills she had undergone with Mari back in Germany and Asuka was fairly certain that she would be running through more of them with the Third and almost certainly the First Child as well in the coming months. That last thought caused her to cringe reflexively.

"Something wrong?"

Asuka looked over to see Amanda walk over wrapped in a towel, having finished her own shower.

"Not really," Asuka muttered.

"Asuka."

The girl winced slightly, recalling that the older woman had an almost preternatural ability to see right through her and drag out her innermost thoughts. It was freaky and yet sometimes comforting to know that someone could understand her so well.

"It's the First," Asuka admitted. "She's, weird."

"Now there's an understatement," Amanda muttered.

Taken somewhat aback by her mentor's comment, Asuka looked at the woman in surprise.

"Rei's situation is not normal, to say the least," Amanda said. "As far as I've been able to tell the only guardian she's ever had was Commander Ikari. You probably heard the rumors about Shinji's first time piloting the EVA. Well, put those two together and what do you get?"

Asuka's expression darkened. "A good for nothing father figure."

Amanda nodded. "The debate about nature and nurture has never been definitively settled, but I think in this case even if Rei was naturally introverted being raised by a man like the commander would not have encouraged her to learn how to better express herself. And of course because he's the only one that's been there for her, she is instinctively reliant on him."

"But-but that's just plain abuse!" Asuka protested.

"The argument could be made," Amanda said. "But if we want to help Rei, we need to do it in a way that minimizes how much more hurt she'll be. Shock therapy may sound appealing, Asuka, but you of all people know that it isn't pleasant."

An all too pointed reminder that Asuka herself had issues that were not yet resolved, despite the past five years under Amanda's guidance. The young woman got the point however and simply nodded, eliciting a smile and then a warm embrace by the older woman. Asuka flinched but forced herself to stay calm until her body relaxed into the hug.

Asuka had an almost pathological hatred of being touched and a purely reflexive reaction to maul anyone who laid a hand on her without her express permission. One boy at the school had already learned that the hard way, though seeing as Asuka's victim was the cockiest and most self-assured playboy in the school almost no one save the boy himself held it against the girl. In fact Asuka's demonstration of her martial prowess had only increased the number of her fans. Amanda however was one of the few people that could make contact with the Second Child without fear of retaliation and not just because the two were close to one another. The first time she had touched the girl Asuka had reacted without thinking, only for the girl to find herself flat on her ass after Amanda deflected and then reversed a spinning roundhouse thrown at her.

The shock had been enough to drill into Asuka a new instinct, a fear of the other woman's martial prowess that was just enough to overpower the instinct that demanded she destroy anyone that got close to her. It had also resulted in Asuka bawling her eyes out publicly for the first time the Second Child could ever remember. Amanda holding her as she poured out all the sorrow and pain that had built up in her had been what finally saw Asuka open up to the older woman. Since then, the German woman and her husband had been amongst the small number of people that Asuka genuinely wanted respect and approval from. And while that instance of shock therapy had worked, Asuka was honest enough to admit that at the time she had felt like crap for a while even with the relief of finally letting all that pain out.

"I guess I can try to be nicer to her," Asuka muttered.

"Being a bit more patient would also help," Amanda said. "But thanks Asuka."

* * *

The shopping trips with Mayumi were now becoming a habitual thing. Whenever the two ran into each other at the grocery store, and more often than not Shinji did see her there whenever he shopped, the two would walk around the store until both had everything they needed before going to check out. The more the two talked the more Shinji felt like he was actually getting to know the girl. Both shared an interest in cooking and exchanged tips with each other. Then there were the conversations about school and family.

Here and there Mayumi dropped hints and Shinji soon had a decent picture of what kind of home she lived in. Despite the obvious hardships it was clear that it was a loving environment. Had he been the way he was before, Shinji would have greatly envied her. Then again the old him would probably have never worked up the courage to talk to this shy girl. In some ways Shinji still envied Mayumi but the home Misato had welcomed him into and the care others at NERV showed him was slowly wearing away at his old pain. The hurt was still there but it was considerably duller than when he first came to Tokyo-3.

Not once did Shinji ever talk about his work at NERV or the EVAs. Mayumi never pressed him about how he was associated with NERV either. Due to the information censoring it was entirely possible she did not even realize Shinji was a pilot. That suited Shinji just fine. He had enough admirers at school after all and what he really wanted these days were real friends like Toji, Kensuke, and even Hikari.

Today as they left the grocery store however Mayumi had a surprise in store for Shinji.

"Umm, Ikari-kun, could I ask a favor?"

Shinji nodded. "Of course Yamagishi-san."

"Umm, today I might have bought a little too much," Mayumi said, face down yet her luminescent blush still visible underneath her bangs. "Could you, help me carry this home?"

Shinji's mind had grown considerably more robust over the past couple of months but even so it still took a while to process the request. When the full ramifications hit him he found his own face burning up.

"Umm, that's no problem, I offered to help you before and that offer still stands!" he said quickly.

Somehow Mayumi's own face reddened further but the hints of a smile appeared. "Thank you, Ikari-kun."

Relieving Mayumi of a good fraction of her bags Shinji fell in step beside her. The two walked in silence, both unable to really face each other. Those that took notice of the pair chuckled at the sight. In many ways it was quite cute. Of course for the two people involved any such suggestion would have been absolutely mortifying.

"Umm."

"Uh."

The mutual attempt to break the silence ran into each other and canceled out, leaving the two speechless once more. Finally a slight chuckle escaped Shinji as the ridiculousness of the situation struck him. The echoing giggle from Mayumi suggested she was thinking likewise.

"We must look kind of ridiculous," Shinji said.

"Maybe," Mayumi said. "But still, this is nice."

"Yes, yes it is."

And so the two walked in mutual silence until they reached Mayumi's place. It was not a large house by any means, but it looked well lived in and well kept.

"Thank you again Ikari-kun," Mayumi said.

"Any time Yamagishi-san," Shinji said. He thought it over a bit before speaking. "If you ever need help getting all this into the house, you just have to ask."

Mayumi's blush returned but she smiled as she grasped the other meaning. Only on her own time and her own terms would Shinji step any further into her world. She nodded appreciatively.

"Umm, I'm glad to have met you, Shinji-kun. Thank you for everything."

Shinji smiled. "Me too, Mayumi-san."

* * *

"Asuka, Asuka, Asuka, man people'll do anything for a pretty face," Toji muttered as he sorted through the selection of photos on offer.

Several days had passed since the German girl's dynamic entry into the school scene and new rumors were still being generated on a daily basis. Thus far her allure had yet to die down.

Kensuke thanked another satisfied customer and counted their current take before responding. "Well hard to blame them, they don't really see the person underneath. In her case though beauty really is only skin deep."

"So how long ya think demand'll last before people wise up?"

Kensuke shrugged. "I give it another week, should make enough to pay for a CPU upgrade for my computer. What'll you get with your cut?"

"I don't know, been thinking of maybe taking Hikari out someplace nice to thank her fer the grub every day."

"Oh, so it's official now is it?"

Toji's face reddened. "Shaddup!"

Back at the front of the school the girl that was the subject of many an adolescent fantasy was making her entrance. To the surprise of many a second girl stepped out of the fancy car that had chauffeured her here. Rei Ayanami had her own admirers, her quiet and exotic nature attracting a fair share of confessions when school first started. Rumors began flying immediately as to what the relationship between the two girls might be, beyond the obvious one of their being EVA pilots of course.

"Guten morgen Shinji!" Asuka cheerfully greeted her fellow pilot.

Shinji looked over in surprise. Did Asuka consider them to be on first name basis already? Well, only one way to find out.

"Guten morgen Asuka-san," Shinji replied, managing to pronounce the German words quite fluidly.

"Hooo?" Asuka said, hand under chin as she regarded him. "Amanda teach you some German?"

"Something like that," Shinji said. "She and Reimer-san often converse in German and I picked up bits and pieces."

"I see," Asuka said, seemingly satisfied. "Well, keep it up, maybe you'll end up proving the validity of learning by osmosis."

Shinji was not sure whether that was a compliment or not but decided it was safer to just assume so. Besides, Asuka was not the only one he needed to greet.

"Good morning Ayanami."

"Ikari-kun," Rei said with a slight bow.

The murmurs grew louder.

"Did you see that? Not just the transfer student, but Ayanami greeted Ikari too!"

"Lucky dog, why does he get all the attention."

"Why do you think? He's an EVA pilot, all the chicks dig heroes."

Shinji could not help but chuckle nervously as he overheard the chatter. If only they knew. With the clock ticking down, Shinji made his way toward class. Today at least promised to be relatively mundane. Two hours later just as he nearly fell asleep from the teacher droning on about pre-Second Impact, his cellphone chirped loudly in concert with that of the only other two in the class that was not set to vibrate during class.

* * *

The deployment to the coastline went without a hitch though only Unit 01 and 02 were actually present. Unit 00 was still undergoing repair and tuning and was not yet combat effective but two Evangelions should be enough for whatever form the latest Angel took, or so the thinking went. Of course according to Asuka her Unit 02 alone was enough and it was a waste of time and resources to have brought Unit 01 and Shinji along, never mind the UN regiment that was gathering along the coast.

"Are all your pilots this cocky?" Kayabuki asked.

Misato chuckled. "Well, Asuka tends to be a bit more enthusiastic."

"Enthusiasm on the battlefield tends to be a very fast way of getting killed," Kayabuki replied but shrugged.

The pilots were the other woman's responsibility after all and even if she outranked the captain NERV's chain of command was wholly separate from even the UN's. Misato could deal with keeping her charges in check. Kayabuki had enough on her plate getting the newly formed 597th regiment functioning as a cohesive unit. The UN had adopted a somewhat funny numbering scheme for its regiments since it began building up its own army. It was the largest force the UN deployed as a single unit and thus was the most common way for troops to be organized. Even so the UN did not actually have close to six hundred regiments, money was scarce enough without having to pay for over a million soldiers.

Instead to avoid conflicting with the existing numbered regiments of various national militaries, even as those militaries were increasingly subordinated into the international command structure, the UN numbered their regiments counting downwards from increments of one hundred. Each country was given a number in the hundreds to base their contributed regiments off of and Japan had the 500s. As such Kayabuki's regiment was actually the third regiment that her nation had contributed to the UN. Or rather, it was the third one actually established. The 597th had actually existed for quite a few years before being designated as Tokyo-3's garrison but it had remained more or less a paper command until now. Now though Kayabuki was determined to turn it into the toughest, strongest, and most honorable UN regiment in Japan. Maybe even the world, but one had to start somewhere.

"Well Captain Katsuragi, I will be returning to my command. Good hunting."

"You as well Colonel Kayabuki."

The two women exchanged courteous salutes and Kayabuki headed for her command vehicle while Misato turned her attention back to the approaching target. They still had a good half hour before contact and it might be a good idea to make sure Shinji and especially Asuka knew to stick to the battle plan.

"Put me through to the pilots."

"Line open ma'am."

"Shinji-kun, Asuka, are you two ready?"

"Of course," Asuka said. "Though two on one against the Angel? Seems a tad unfair."

Misato felt the beginnings of a headache. "Asuka, the last thing I want to give the Angel is a fair fight. In fact if that ever happens I'm not doing my job very well."

"Yeah, yeah," Asuka said offhandedly. "Just make sure Shinji there doesn't get in my way."

The Third Child felt a spike of irritation at those words. "Remember who's the rookie here, Asuka-san. After all, live combat and training are two very different things."

As amusing as it was to see Shinji score on Asuka like that, Misato knew that it would only make the German girl that much more determined to show off and do her own thing.

"Remember that this is emphatically not a contest," she reminded the two. "It doesn't matter who kills the Angel, only that it does get killed. And if the Angel gets away because you two aren't working together, there will be hell to pay. Or there might not be, because the world'll probably have ended by then. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Shinji replied dutifully.

"Fine," Asuka said more reluctantly. "But you better pay damn good attention Third Child, if you so much as scratch my EVA by shooting me when I go in for the kill, I will make you suffer!"

With that Asuka terminated the line herself and left Shinji and Misato staring at each other. The captain sighed, knowing that this was as much of an acknowledgment of her order as she was likely to get out of the younger girl.

"Be careful Shinji-kun," Misato said, "and come back to us with Asuka."

"I will Misato-san," Shinji assured her.

The line closed and Misato glanced back again at the sensor readout. Now the waiting game began. Despite what one might have thought, it did not feel long at all.

The UN forces opened fire and to the surprise of all involved seemed to be scoring hits on the Angels even without the EVAs being close enough to neutralize an AT-field. By the time it actually made landfall the Seventh Angel already had extensive flesh wounds peppering its body.

"Oh this is just pathetic," Asuka said. "Third Child, cover me, I'm going in!"

"That was the plan," Shinji said as he opened fire.

The massive rounds fired off by the EVA's rifle were more akin to tank shells than bullets and wrecked proportionate havoc on the Angel. Then again the UN regiment's armored element had been enthusiastically pounding away already and Shinji's fire simply contributed to that greater whole. All of that fire died off however as Unit 02 neared the target, Asuka's warning having been forwarded to Kayabuki by Misato and further passed down the chain of command. It seemed no one was interested in finding out just how much suffering an irate teenage girl piloting an 80 meter tall robot could inflict.

With a triumphant cry Asuka charged the Angel and smashed her poleax through its body. The creature did not even put up a token resistance and its two halves slumped to the sides.

"Mission accomplished."

"That, was way too easy," Shinji muttered. He regarded the corpse warily. His suspicion was soon vindicated. "Asuka! Look out!"

Reacting instinctively, the Second Child leapt back and saw the two halves begin to shake. Mass suddenly sprouted from the cut and morphed and twisted until both halves became fully formed. The now-doubled Angels began advancing again.

"Oh that is bullshit!" Misato cried.

Similar thoughts were going through the heads of everyone watching and no order was needed to resume fire. And then the Angels leapt into the air, evading the incoming rounds and heading straight for Unit 01.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried out, breaking into a flat run as she tried to reach her fellow pilot in time.

The effort was noble and in another time Asuka might have never given any thought to coming to a fellow pilot's aid. The distance was simply too great however and Shinji was forced to face the full might of both Angels alone. They smashed into his AT-field, bringing Unit 01 to its knees with the impact.

"Asuka, hurry!" Shinji cried.

"Damn it, I need a gun!" Asuka snapped.

Salvation came in the form of the UN forces as the tanks and IFVs retargeted, pouring fire into the Angels. This time an AT-field sprang up to block the shots but even this miniscule diversion of their strength was enough to give Shinji some breathing room. That proved enough to let him last long enough for Asuka to make a dynamic entrance of her own.

"Heeyah!"

Unit 02 came charging in with ax swinging and looked about to once again cleave through the Angels. Instead the two creatures simultaneously belt over, letting the ax fly above them before jerking back up and laying into Unit 02 with a pair of kicks.

"Kyaaaaaaaah!"

"Asuka!"

Shinji dropped his rifle, unable to use it at such close range and drew the progressive knife from the left pylon. He slashed at one of the duplicates but again the Angels dodged and landed simultaneous strikes on him instead.

"They're in sync," Misato muttered, then shouted into the radio, "Shinji-kun, Asuka, the Angels are attacking in synchronized fashion!"

"No, really!?" Asuka bit back as she hauled her EVA back up. "How about something we don't know, like how the hell we're supposed to beat this!"

"You need to counter both Angels," Misato said, ignoring the snark. All of them were under a fair amount of combat stress after all. "Work together, try to synchronize with Shinji like you did against the Sixth Angel!"

"Easier said than done!" Asuka cried as she lunged again at the Angels.

And again the Angels dashed and proceeded to land their own blows.

"Asuka, we need to stay close together!" Shinji cried.

"I know!" Asuka snapped, rolling her EVA onto its feet again and this time wisely not pressing in for another attack. "So get your ass over here, baka Shinji!"

Unit 01 was trying to do just that but the Angels seemed to realize their intent and spun back and forth keeping the pilots from linking up. Help once again came from the UN forces as their shots smashed into the Angel's AT-field. Mild as the distraction was, the synchronization displayed by the duplicates now became a disadvantage as both Angels reacted as if they had been attacked even if only one was the focus of the cannon fire.

With the breathing space this provided, Shinji finally managed to dive through and stand side by side with Asuka.

"Alright Third Child, ready to kick some ass?"

In a somewhat uncharacteristically eager tone, Shinji agreed. "Yeah, I'm getting a bit sick of these guys."

At some unspoken signal the two Evas charged forward and launched parallel flying kicks at the Angels. Their opponents reacted with perfect unity, deflecting the blows and launching a counterattack. Here Asuka and Shinji's reactions varied, if only due to their differing amount of experience in martial arts. Whereas Asuka simply dodged the attack and continued in for the kill, Shinji blocked and so was slightly behind in launching his strike. The difference was enough to throw their synchronization off and the Angels exploited that for all it was worth, evading Asuka's move while both focusing on breaking through Shinji's block and sending his unit flying.

"Grrr, these guys are really pissing me off here!" Asuka cried out.

Hopping over the Angels, Asuka managed to regroup with Shinji just as their opponents launched their next move. Shinji was still recovering and Asuka was forced to take the brunt of it but the Third Child followed through as quickly as his reflexes could kick in, slashing at one of the Angels as they tried to overpower Asuka.

"No dummkopf!"

It was too late to correct the mistake as the Angels once again withdrew from their confrontation with Asuka and focused on countering Shinji. Somehow however the Third Child managed to catch one of the Angels with his knife, ripping open the flesh even as his unit was smashed into the ground. The way momentarily clear, the UN forces let loose once more and with the EVAs so close actively neutralizing their AT-fields the Angels took more hits to their bodies.

As Asuka prepared for another onslaught however, the Angels suddenly split apart and circled around her. Spinning about, Asuka watched as they dashed towards the coast with almost undue haste before sinking into the waves.

"Oh no you don't!"

Asuka charged off in pursuit and barely even noticed the power plug ejecting from her EVA. Just as she reached the shoreline however the Angels disappeared from sight as they returned to the ocean.

"Asuka!" Shinji cried out. "You're in B-type equipment!"

The red EVA unit ground to a halt and simply stood there for a moment looking out at the water. Then it began stomping its foot in expression of its pilot's fury.

"Goddamn it, those cowards! Come out and fight like men! What kind of apocalyptic monster retreats!? You're a disgrace to all Angels everywhere!"

The sight of an 80 meter tall robot throwing what amounted to a tantrum was so surreal that everyone watching simply stared at the scene. Then some of them rediscovered their sense of humor and began laughing at the absurdity of it all, all with their radio pickups muted of course. Shinji and Misato on the other hand simply slapped a palm to their face in exasperation.

"She's embarrassing us," they muttered with remarkable synchronicity.

End of Chapter 6

You know, I'm not sure where I got 'prof' from for Toji. I think it fits however, seeing as Toji tends to be a 'man' of action and Shinji, despite his somewhat berserk tendencies, is more introspective and Toji seems like the type to joke around about it with his best friend.

Yes, I came up with a really contrived BS reason to justify the 597th's regimental number. Yes it's in homage to something else. Look it up, it shouldn't be hard to find. Also I know the Angel numbers might be a bit weird in that section, but that's intentional. Recall in the series proper the JSSDF actually seemed to be off by one the Angel numbers. The hypothesis amongst fans seems to be that they are not aware of Lilith, the Second Angel, so their own count is off by one.

Sidenote, I'm changing the gun Soren used in the last chapter to a Glock18 instead of a 37. That was a mistake on my part seeing as NERV uses Glock17s and the 37 uses a different caliber. That and the 18's capabilities will allow for more interesting, showing off in a future chapter.

I decided for the sake of diversity that humor was appropriate for the battle against the latest Angel. That chunk of the series was full of it anyway.

So a couple of things have happened in this chapter. I believe this is the first peek I have given of the wider, conspiracy, the sidesteppers are involved in. And yes, I have introduced another sidestepper. The biggest issue a lot of peggy-sue fics have is that, even if the children go back in time or whatever, what are they supposed to achieve? They're kids, besides their EVAs they have very little influence on the wider world. SEELE on the other hand is thoroughly entrenched in the world's geopolitical power structures and they basically play the UN and the remaining governments like puppets. Even if the kids manage to prevent Third Impact, what's to prevent SEELE from trying again after they assassinate these interlopers? Or starve them out through siege or any variety of other methods. To take down SEELE, not just the individuals that make up the council but also the power structure that supports them, would require a tremendous amount of support and resources to do cleanly if you wanted to avoid throwing the world into a new world war. The sidesteppers are painfully aware of this and it is for this reason that the vast majority of their resources are devoted not to supporting the pilots but to preparing a clean decapitating blow. They still consider the children as important, hence why they have quite a few 'agents' on site, but let's just say that there are a lot of sidesteppers and they have been very, very busy. As if you couldn't already tell that from the sidestepper that just got introduced. I'll let you, my readers, try to figure out the significance of each of the US cabinet positions mentioned and why they are relevant to each side. And what their key phrase/motto is.

Hmm, I think I will refrain from commenting on Mayumi, besides asking again if anyone knows where to dig up information about 2nd Impression. I'll let all your imaginations work out her involvement in my story.

One final thing. I know that some writers inject seemingly random Japanese words into dialogue, perhaps to try to create a more authentic feel. I understand Japanese, I took several years of it at a university that is known for its linguistic program and survived. I still find such injections somewhat jarring or perhaps it is because I do understand Japanese that I find such interruptions out of place, but either way I am highly unlikely to do this. Some things like honorifics or terms for brother or sister I will use simply because English has no good equivalent. You may have also noticed German sprinkled around, but those are more to reflect the alienness that the Japanese characters would experience upon hearing those words. It is on the whole _not_ intended to serve as reminders to _readers_ about the foreign nature of the characters. You will notice for the most part when I write dialogue that suggests say Amanda and Soren are conversing in German, I rarely if ever bother with any German affectations and just use straight English. If I ever do use a German or a Japanese word, it will be to emphasize a very specific point or trait.

At this point a series of events will happen in the chapter 9 through 13 range that will make a bit clearer on the nature of the sidesteppers. Or it will at least provide more information for all of you to speculate on. I think at that point I will adjust the summary description again to better reflect what is going on. So stay tuned. And drop me a line of what you think.

Z98


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Ballabile

"Well, this is new," Amanda said after the debriefing.

"An Angel performing a tactical retreat is certainly unprecedented," Ritsuko agreed.

"I can't decide whether that's a good or bad thing," Amanda said. "They're obviously learning and becoming more dangerous, but does that mean they'll learn enough to reach a point where we can communicate?"

"And resolve our differences peacefully?" Ritsuko said. "That seems rather idealistic of you."

Amanda shrugged. "There are many ways to win a war. If they would just leave us alone and let us get on with our objectives, I really couldn't care less what they did after we achieved them."

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," Ritsuko said.

"So what's the estimated time until their return?" Amanda asked.

"Based on the amount of damage they took and the regeneration rates of previous Angels, the MAGI estimate we have six days before they launch a renewed attack."

"So we have six days to prepare."

"Quite. Anyway, I'm going to go check in on Misato. She said she needed some help brainstorming ways to deal with this latest little wrinkle the Angels have thrown at us."

Amanda began grinning. "Funny you should say that." She presented a zip disk of all things to the scientist. "Ryoji asked me to pass this on to Misato. Something about an idea for dealing with the doppelgangers."

"Oh?" Ritsuko took the disk with interest. "Any idea what it is?"

The grin grew wider. "The short version? The power of rhythmic gymnastics."

Ritsuko looked at the disk for a few seconds before a chuckle escaped her. Assuming she was interpreting Amanda's hint right, that really did sound like something Kaji would come up with. Misato would probably have gotten around to it eventually but this should at least save them a few hours. With that Ritsuko made her way to Misato's office, a nice enough room under normal circumstances but which was now positively overflowing with papers. Misato's desk was ground zero with so many documents piled upon it that the computer that was supposed to be under there somewhere was not even visible anymore.

"I'm surprised, I did not think that failing to defeat an Angel would generate even more paperwork than us winning a battle," Ritsuko joked.

"Most of this is from the battle with the Sixth Angel," Misato explained. "Apparently the two battleships we sank to kill it were N2 equipped and every time one of those is used or lost, entire forests would get slaughtered for all the paperwork involved if there were still forests left to cut down."

"Ah," Ritsuko said. "Though didn't the Pacific Fleet never formally give up operational command in that situation? Why isn't all this their problem?"

"Amanda volunteered me to handle it for them," Misato said with a sigh. "I don't think she's forgiven me for the Jet Alone incident yet."

The doctor nodded in admiration at the auditor-general's vengefulness. If the German woman considered you a friend, she would go to hell and back for you. If you ever betrayed that trust however, she would literally rain hell down upon you. While Misato had not exactly committed that grave a sin and Amanda had indeed already forgiven her friend, the good auditor-general was not beyond reminding the captain pointedly about the potential consequences if she ever suffered such a lapse in judgment again.

"I don't suppose you've come with some great new invention that'll make all this paperwork do itself or go away?"

"The former is likely theoretically impossible," Ritsuko said with a smile, "whereas the latter just needs a decently sized incinerator. What I bear however is almost as good, a potential solution to our little Angel problem."

"Oh thank you Ritsu-chan!" Misato said, nearly hugging the other woman.

"Don't thank me," Ritsuko said, smile still plastered over her face as she presented the disk to Misato.

The captain looked at the note attached and grimaced in distaste. "Kaji?"

"Beggars can't be choosers," Ritsuko said, prompting Misato to reluctantly take the disk.

She still looked at it as if it might give her hives.

* * *

As Shinji exited the elevator on his floor, he was greeted with countless boxes stacked in the hallway. Closer examination revealed them to be postal packages, all with the name A. Langley marked on them. The Third Child marveled at how much stuff the girl had managed to accrue much less get shipped all the way over here from Germany. His second thought was where in the world the girl would manage to fit all this stuff. In the midst of his musing a figure poked out of the apartment next door and began counting the boxes.

"Asuka-san?"

The girl looked over at him. "Oh, Third. What're you, oh, right, you live with Misato."

Shinji nodded. "Are you moving next door to us?"

"Apparently so," Asuka said with a shrug. "Still don't know how I'm going to get all of my stuff put away though, Japanese apartments are insanely small."

As he had no other reference to compare to, Shinji was in no position to judge the accuracy of Asuka's complaint. The elevator dinged again and Misato appeared behind him.

"Oh good, you're both here, Asuka, mind joining us at my place for a chat?"

"Sure," the redhead said and followed the other two in.

Once seated, Misato assumed a much more serious air. "I'm sure you both haven't forgotten that the Sixth Angel managed to escape us. We've been analyzing the data from our last encounter and have determined that when one of the two copies gets damaged, it draws energy from the other to repair itself. You two were able to inflict enough damage quickly enough to momentarily overcome its regeneration speed, but not fast enough to prevent it from retreating."

"So what, we need to hit it harder and faster next time?" Asuka said.

"Yes, yes, and one more thing," Misato said. "You two need to hit it in complete synchronization."

The two looked blankly at Misato. Once she finished elaborating, an outraged scream erupted from one of the two pilots.

* * *

"So you haven't heard anything from Ikari-kun either?" Hikari asked her defacto boyfriend.

"Nope, nadaword," Toji said as he followed behind the class rep with his best friend. "After his message saying he needed to train fer some mission, we haven't heard a peep from him since."

"Strange, Asuka also mentioned she needed to undergo some training," Hikari said thoughtfully, a finger over her mouth. "I wonder if it's something they need to do together."

"Well if it is he has my condolences," Kensuke said.

"Aida, that's not nice," Hikari chided.

"What, it's true!"

"Do you want me to inform Asuka-san about that little photo racket you've got running?"

Kensuke laughed nervously. "You, you knew about that?"

Hikari smiled sweetly. "Knowledge is power, you of all people should understand that."

Kensuke swallowed nervously and leaned over to his friend. "I never knew your girlfriend was that scary."

Having just learned that himself, Toji decided that discretion was the better part of valor at right this moment.

The trio passed the Katsuragi and Ikari household and was proceeding to the apartment next door when Hikari looked at the other two students in confusion.

"Eh? Weren't you going to visit Ikari-kun?"

"He said to drop by the one next to it since that's where his training's taking place," Kensuke explained.

"But, Asuka-san said her new apartment was next to Katsuragi…"

The three exchanged increasingly worried looks.

"Ya don't think?"

"No way, no how."

"But, but that would be!"

Nervously, Hikari rang the doorbell to the residence. What answered were two adolescents that had identical exasperated looks on their faces. Kensuke and Toji quickly mirrored the doubling as they cringed in horror simultaneously.

"They're wearing the same thing again!" Kensuke exclaimed.

"Prof, you've betrayed us!" Toji cried.

"It's not what it looks like!" Shinji and Asuka protested in perfect synchronization down to their gesturing hands and arms. "This is all part of the training! We have to dress alike, live, eat, and sleep together!"

"That's so dirty!" Hikari screeched.

"I already said that's not what it looks like!" the two screamed.

* * *

Laughter filled the air with the periodic dings! in the background marking the completion of various stages of the training program.

"So that's what's going on," Hikari said, cradling the hot spring penguin as she and her classmates listened to Misato's explanation.

"Man, who woulda thought learning ta dance would help fight an Angel," Toji said.

Rei, present to help with the training and so already up to speed on the latest insanity the pilots were going through, simply sipped her tea.

"So, how's the training going?" Kensuke asked.

"Well as you can see," Misato began and glanced at the scene before them.

The lights on the pads continued flashing and the two pilots hit each one near perfectly in sync. Finally the TV displayed a Great! logo and ended the current run.

"There, we're done, now can we give this a rest already Misato?" Asuka said.

"Well I can't say you two haven't made a lot of progress, but there's still a lot of roughness," the captain said. "You're still rushing at a few spots Asuka, which throws off the rest of the beat until Shinji-kun manages to realign with you. You need to pay more attention to him and keep in sync with his movements, not charge on ahead and make him catch up with you."

"Misato," Asuka said levelly. "We've been doing this routine for three days now and I am seriously starting to lose my mind here."

"Oh alright, I suppose we can take a break while your friends are here to visit," the captain conceded.

"Danke," Asuka said and plopped herself next to the class rep. "Oh, be careful PenPen doesn't drink all your soda."

"Huh?" The girl looked at her mysteriously emptier cup and then down at the penguin. It looked back up, the very epitome of innocence, which was promptly shattered by a small burp.

"Here, let me class rep," Toji said as he poured more soda for his girlfriend.

"Oh, thank you Suzuhara."

"So I guess we have more homework to catch up on thanks to our absence?" Shinji said as he joined the others.

"Yep," Kensuke said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a thick stack of paper. "And you missed a chem quiz. Sensei's probably going to make your makeup harder just so nothing we tell you gives you an advantage."

"Oh great," Shinji muttered. The glare he gave the pages was as hateful as the normally placid boy ever managed to muster.

"Here are yours Asuka-san," Hikari said.

"Uh, thanks Hikari," Asuka said, taking the pages with a reluctance that was even greater than Shinji's.

"What's this, the invincible EVA pilot's afraid of a little homework?" Kensuke teased.

The bespectacled boy promptly regretted his words when a very not empty water bottle nailed him on the forehead and sent him reeling back.

"Asuka-san!" Hikari admonished.

"What? The stooge had it coming."

"Well maybe, but violence still isn't the answer."

"With Asuka you'd be surprised," Misato muttered to herself.

"Besides, you never have any problem answering questions in class so I'm sure you'll get all this done in no time," Hikari continued.

"Uh, yeah, of course," Asuka said.

The others looked at the redhead in confusion until a thought occurred to Shinji.

"Hey Asuka-san, what does this sentence say?" Shinji asked, picking out one of the physics problem sets and pointing at a line.

The glare that the Second Child shot Shinji would have stilled a lesser man's heart. As it was it still took Shinji a few moments to realize his was still beating before Asuka finally relented.

"Alright, fine, I suck at reading kanji, happy to have finally found a weakness, Third Child?"

Shinji frantically shook his head. "Well, it's just kind of surprising, since your pronunciation is almost perfect."

"Yeah well you can thank Kaji for that," Asuka said, thoughts of her former guardian slightly improving her mood. "And I suppose Mari too."

"Mari?" Shinji said, puzzled.

"Mari Illustrious Makinami," Misato answered for the younger girl. "She's the Fourth Child and pilot for the Unit 05 undergoing construction at NERV-Berlin."

"Another girl?" Kensuke said. "Man, you really are all by your lonesome, Shinji."

"Hmph, and what is that supposed to mean?" Asuka said to the boy.

"Err, nothing really, just that I didn't think Shinji would be the only guy amongst the pilots."

"You know, that's actually true," Misato said. "Even the pilot at the American branch is a girl. Huh, I never thought about that."

"Who is the American pilot then?" Shinji asked.

"Maria Vincennes, if I remember correctly," Misato said. "I've never actually met her, but she's supposed to be extremely intelligent."

"You sure you should be leaking that?" Asuka said. "You just know glasses there'll post it up on some conspiracy forum."

"Hey, what did you call me?" Kensuke protested.

"No, that's right, Mari is already four-eyes, I think I'll just stick with stooge."

"That doesn't make it better! Uh, what's a stooge?"

"Now, now Asuka," Misato admonished. "Be nice."

"Umm, if you have problems with reading kanji Asuka-san, you could join our study group," Hikari offered.

Asuka blinked. "What?"

"Once a week we get together to do homework and review lessons," Hikari said. "It started to try to get Suzuhara's grade up and help Ikari-kun with all of his makeup work."

Asuka looked over at Toji and Shinji, one of whom was looking more and more uncomfortable. That only made the girl grin.

"Ah, so that's what's going on here."

"What?" Hikari said.

"No, no, nothing. Anyway, I appreciate the offer Hikari, and I might take you up on it sometime. But I think I'll avoid becoming a, fifth wheel to you and the stooge's little get together time."

"Wha, it's not like that at all!"

"Yeah, yer jus making stuff up now!"

Asuka glanced over at Kensuke and Shinji. "Am I now?"

The two boys wisely decided not to contradict the redhead to the mortification of their friends. Asuka allowed herself a chuckle and took another sip of water.

"So Ayanami-san," Kensuke blurted out, deciding that even if he could not dispute Asuka's claims he could at least try to divert attention away from that particular topic. "You're here to help with the training?"

Rei took the change in topic in stride and nodded. "Captain Katsuragi requested that I assist as an additional training partner."

"Oh?" Kensuke said, his interest piqued. "How do you do that?"

"Well, it might be easier to show you," Misato said. "Asuka, think you're up for another go with Rei?"

The Second Child let out an exaggerated sigh but stood. "I guess. But you so owe me a five star dinner after this is over."

"I think you could afford that more easily than me at this point," Misato said dryly.

Asuka stuck her tongue out at the captain before walking over to the pad. Rei accepted the headphones from Shinji and moved to the other one. Asuka restarted the training track and after a brief countdown the music started blaring once more as lights began flashing on the pads. With a practiced smoothness the two pilots moved their hands and feet to touch each circle in the lit sequence, shifting their bodies forward and back in perfect harmony. The three visiting classmates looked on in awe. The rough edges and momentary hiccups that were sprinkled about the sequence when Asuka and Shinji performed it were gone, neither girl ever going too fast or too slow relative to the other. It was a photo finish.

"Wow," Toji said. "That was kinda hot."

That the boy still lived after making that remark had more to do with the distance separating him from the fiery redhead than any restraint on her part. Asuka glared at him and seemed ready to smash Toji's face when Shinji interposed himself with a pleading look. Her flare of anger died down as she watched Hikari scold her boyfriend, though she still shot a look of irritation at Shinji for interfering with her deliverance of righteous justice. Doubts about his common sense aside, at least it showed his spine did in fact exist.

"As you can see," Misato said, playfully swaying what was thankfully not a beer can, "Asuka and Rei are actually much more in sync with each other than Asuka and Shinji are. If Unit 01 wasn't so temperamental or Unit 00 was usable, I'd probably be sending those two out."

"Sorry about that Misato-san," Shinji said sheepishly.

"Oh don't worry about it Shinji-kun," Misato reassured him and glanced over at Asuka. "I'm sure with plenty of practice, you'll nail it too."

Asuka growled. "Fine, fine, break's over, get your ass over here Third so we can kill a few more synapses going over this brain dead routine."

"Wait, if Ayanami-san is helping with the synchronization training, does that mean she's also?" Kensuke wondered aloud.

Misato nodded. "You got it. All three of them are living here right now."

"Shinji, you dog!"

"Suzuhara!"

"Hmph. Stooges, the lot of them."

* * *

"I suppose it might have been asking a bit too much for those two to have synchronized to each other with just the training from karate practice," Amanda said as she gazed down at the chessboard.

"The training should go much more smoothly this time around," Soren stated, before sliding his bishop over a few squares.

Amanda immediately responded by positioning her knight for a capture next turn. "Hopefully. Though who would have thought Wondergirl would sync up with Asuka and not Shinji."

"She technically fell into sync with both of them with ease," Soren pointed out, contemplating the current positioning of pieces. "But you are right, she seems to have noticeably better synergy with the fraulein than with Shinji. A most curious development."

"And something we never expected. I wonder what's going on there."

Soren shrugged, setting up a counter-capture with his pawn. "Asuka is considerably more self-aware this time around. She is also a bit more patient and attentive. A problem with prodigies is that they often feel unchallenged and thus expect to find everything easy. Once they encounter something genuinely hard, their frustration at their inability to immediately master it can cause them to make simple, easily avoidable mistakes."

Amanda smiled slyly, accepting the bait and offering up her knight for her husband's bishop. "So you're saying we did a good enough job of challenging Asuka in her youth to make sure she properly understands the importance of hard work and practice."

"I would like to think so," Soren said. He moved his other bishop into the hole left by the knight, causing Amanda's eyes to narrow. "She did end up with a masters in mathematics from TU Berlin after all."

"Sometimes I think she overachieves a bit too much," Amanda said sullenly, more in response to her husband's flanking attack than her protégé's achievements. With little choice she retreated her knight but it was likely not to matter. Soren had already broken through her defenses, again.

"Well there is the question of what a math degree is good for," Soren said.

Amanda shot him a look. She could not even throw his own qualifications back at him seeing as Soren actually had a bachelor's degree for computer engineering. The violin had been little more than a hobby for him until after he entered a few music contests and ended up beating several actual practitioners. There was no doubt her husband was multi-talented but as Amanda had once confided to Misato, he was indeed somewhat lazy. So perhaps his little comment about prodigies needing challenges was a relation of firsthand experience than mere observation.

Soren advanced his bishop again. "Check."

Amanda glowered at him, just now seeing his endgame. She did not have to just concede though. She used her king to remove the offending bishop. Soren then pushed forward another pawn.

"I believe this is mate."

The brunette glowered at her husband. "I should have never thought you how to play."

Soren gave her an amused smile. "We could always go back to go."

"Pah, no way am I sitting around playing the same game for two days straight. Your only strategy in that game is to bore me to death until I concede."

"I do not recall you ever conceding in anything to me, ever."

"I married you didn't I?"

That, Soren had to admit was a fair point. Sometimes his wife did have them.

* * *

As far as Asuka was concerned the only good part about being forced to cohabitate with the Third Child was his rapidly improving culinary skills. The other pilot was apparently picking up lots of tips from Soren and knowing full well just how good a chef her mentor was Asuka could only approve of the association. While Asuka did know how to cook, one of many skills that Amanda had insisted on drilling into the girl after she made the perhaps premature claim that she could look out for herself, Asuka was not about to forego the luxury of having someone else do it for her when said other produced perfectly fine and constantly improving fare. At least until Amanda found out about her latest bout of laziness and cracked down on her again. There were times when Asuka felt the older woman could be just a tad smothering.

The First Child emerged from the bathroom having just finished her bath, this time actually wrapping herself in a towel. The first night of living with her at Amanda and Soren's place had been eventful to say the least as Soren had suffered from considerable loss of blood after Rei emerged completely naked from her shower. The German man was in many ways quite the gentleman, but his wife possessed a temperamental streak that Asuka only rarely saw. That night it had been on open display as Amanda beat Soren to an inch of his life after accusing him of being a perverted pedophile when she found him staring at the First Child. Fortunately Soren healed very quickly.

So far Asuka had not had need to repeat Amanda's performance on Shinji, the young man seeming to have an instinctive awareness of when Rei was starting to wander around in less than decent covering and stayed clear out of the way until the redhead could rectify the situation. There had been a few close calls though and Asuka was getting slightly exasperated with the First Child's complete lack of self-awareness or modesty. Troubled upbringing be damned, some things a girl should never do in front of a boy.

"Ayanami," Asuka began. "Rei. Can you please put some clothes on before you leave the bathroom after a shower or bath?"

Rei tilted her head. "Is my exposure of skin problematic?"

"For the last time yes! You're a girl, start acting like one! You can't just wander around half-naked when a boy is around, it'd give him the wrong idea!"

"What wrong idea would it give him?"

Asuka tried very, very hard to not bang her head against the table. A self-induced concussion was sounding more and more tempting than trying to explain social etiquette and sexual mores to Rei.

"Look, guys find female bodies attractive and lack serious self-control issues. If you show a guy too much skin, he's liable to try to take advantage of you and do, stuff."

Rei blinked. "What is this stuff you are referring to?"

"I am not having this conversation!" Asuka screamed in exasperation, causing Rei to flinch in surprise. "Ayanami. Rei. Please just take my word for it right now, showing your skin to random guys is a really bad idea, especially at our age."

"I see," Rei said, not entirely honestly. Even so Asuka dared hope that the First Child got enough of the point to start behaving more sanely. That hope was quickly dashed. "Would it be acceptable then to, show skin, to males that one is acquainted with?"

"No! I mean, sometimes, depending on the circumstances, but you should still be careful! If you put out too easily, then the guy's liable to try to take advantage of you. Guys our age are all perverts anyway, they have no self-control."

Rei seemed to think about it. Then she dropped another bombshell on Asuka. "Pilot Ikari does not appear to suffer from this lack of self-restraint as you suggest."

Asuka stared at Rei. "What."

"Pilot Ikari-"

"No I got that, but what are you talking about with Shinji's self-restraint?"

"During our encounters when I was lacking in appropriate clothing, Pilot Ikari has generally avoided looking upon my body."

Something snapped inside Asuka. It was hard to describe what exactly broke, but the snap itself was actually audible if Rei's blinking in confusion was any indication.

"I'm back," a voice called out from the front door. "We're going to need Misato-san to restock on soy sauce tomorrow if we want, to…"

Shinji looked at the moderately covered up Rei and a seemingly fuming Asuka sitting at the dinner table.

"Umm, is this a bad time?"

The redhead fixed Shinji with a glare that literally froze him to the spot.

"YOU'VE GOT A HELL OF A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO THIRD CHILD!"

* * *

"I'm not exactly sure what happened, but Asuka seems really angry with Shinji-kun," Misato said offhandedly.

The captain was holed up in Amanda's office again, likely in an effort to hide from the overflowing paperwork in her own office.

"Is that going to be a problem for the attack plan?" Amanda asked.

"At this point I have no idea," Misato admitted. "Their synchronization's actually gotten a lot better. It's as if Shinji's working even harder to predict her movements just so he'll know when she's going to lash out at him."

Amanda sighed. "I suppose it's a bit too late to try to untangle that knot. We'll just have to hope whatever fear and rage is driving those two right now hold out for one more day. Then we can see about getting them back on friendlier terms."

Misato massaged her temples. "This is so not good for my stress levels."

"Hmm, I do see a gray hair there."

"What!? Where!"

Amanda snickered, causing her friend to glare at her.

"Not funny."

"Sorry, sorry, but you look like you're even more tightly wound up than those two. If you want I could have a word with them tonight?"

"No, I think it's best to leave them be. They need to sort out whatever's between them themselves."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "If you really think that's the way to go. Just remember that they are kids. Sometimes having an adult in the room really is necessary."

There was some truth to that, Misato knew. In fact if she was completely honest with herself it was more that Misato simply did not know how to deal with the current squabbling. Maybe she also needed to spend some time reflecting upon herself if she was to really be suited for this guardian gig. Misato sighed. Tactical problems were so much more straightforward than dealing with the human heart.

* * *

Shinji lay on the futon, trying to calm himself with the music on his SDAT. The days since Asuka found out about his little accident at Rei's apartment had been tense to say the least and being forced to constantly be around the redhead was seriously fraying his nerves. The girl had made her displeasure most clear.

"This is the wall of Jericho," Asuka had declared her futon's edges to be when they went to bed that night. "It is an impregnable defense. Attempt to pass it and die."

He just needed to last one more day however and he could move back in with Misato and not be constantly at risk of riling Asuka's temper. Perhaps it was due to his focused effort in his nerves that he completely missed the entrance of said girl.

Asuka was still in the practice leotard, an outfit that she loathed the moment Misato showed it to her. She did not have any real problem with the way it hugged her body, the synchronization exercises required clothes that were flexible after all and Asuka was confident enough in her figure to not have anything she wanted to hide. That it left so little to others' imaginations when they saw her in it was also tolerable, so long as they were people she knew. After all she had not yet blinded the two stooges for defiling her with their eyes. What had really raised her hackles was the pink shoulder drape selected to differentiate her outfit from Shinji's. Sure she could understand the need to tell them apart, but pink just because she was a girl? They could have at least given her a red to match her unit. There were times when Asuka needed no convincing of the prevalence of gender stereotyping in contemporary Japanese society.

Tonight however the focus of Asuka's irritation lay in another direction, figuratively and literally. Looking down at the Third Child, she sighed and gave him a sharp poke with her feet. Shinji nearly jumped and scrambled around to look up at her.

"Baka Shinji," she said. "You and I need to have a little talk."

Shinji swallowed nervously, his current mental state not helped by having the redhead looking down domineeringly at him.

"Look, tomorrow we've got a battle to win and I have no desire to prolong this cohabitation arrangement just because you screw up because you're too damn nervous," Asuka stated. "Tonight we're going to run through the drill until we get it down absolutely perfectly without you risking a nervous breakdown in the process."

Shinji blinked. "But, shouldn't we try to get some rest as well?"

Asuka snorted. "Oh I fully expect to get a good night of sleep Third Child. Now c'mon."

Wincing at the unspoken challenge, Shinji followed Asuka over to the practice mats.

"The way I see it," Asuka began, "is you're trying too damn hard to keep up with me. That means you spend way too much extra time trying to figure out what I'm about to do and mimicking it."

"But, how else am I supposed to copy your movements?" Shinji protested.

Another snort again. "This is a choreographed sequence. Do you know why the First and I don't have this problem? It's because she just goes through the motions instead of constantly staring at me. After a certain point we're just in sync naturally, not because the two of us are fixing our attention on each other."

"I, see," Shinji said.

His unease was obvious in his response and Asuka shook her head in exasperation.

"Look, let's go through the routine, but this time don't pay any attention to me. Just go through the moves themselves in time with the music, it's there for a goddamn reason after all. Alright?"

"I guess so," Shinji said, still a bit uncertain but prepared to humor the other pilot. Who knows, she might yet be onto something here.

* * *

One of the less enjoyable aspects about military duty was being on call basically 24-7. Kayabuki enjoyed her sleep and in theory could pull rank to make sure she got full nights of it. On the other hand as a ranking officer she was expected to put in even more effort and so tended not to get quite as much as what she considered a proper night of, oh, nine or ten hours of sleep. As a consequence she could be somewhat irritable in the morning, assuming she deigned to even feign wakefulness.

The newly minted colonel had over the course of her career come up with a variety of ways to distract herself from her irritation. One such method was to keep her hands busy doing something, anything. More often than not it resulted in her folding random scraps of what she considered otherwise useless paper into origami animals, their complexity progressing in a linear fashion with her level of irritation. The troops under her command had dubbed her creations the Cipher Cranes after one particular instance where Kayabuki had basically turned an entire cipher book into dozens and dozens of paper cranes. Said cipher book was fortunately out of date by that point and was in theory supposed to have been shredded and then incinerated, not spread across half the battalion in the form of origami cranes. Not one soul ever reported this particular breach of protocol.

In point of fact Kayabuki's Cipher Cranes were quite popular amongst the rank and file. Almost every squad in her old battalion had at least one member who had one and the fad was quickly spreading through the regiment as a whole. This resulted in the running joke that the Cipher Cranes were always the first into combat and were never afraid to get properly stuck in. More than one soldier claimed that a Cipher Crane was a source of inspiration and its mere presence could turn the tide of battle. While many laughed at the notion none every actually disputed it.

At last count approximately five hundred cranes were scattered amongst the regiment, most concentrated in Kayabuki's old battalion with a handful more having come into the possession of a few lucky units in other battalions. Rumor was that the colonel was going for a thousand cranes and there was even a betting pool on what she would wish for. The two most popular choices so far were a general's star or a guy worthy of being her boyfriend. A close third was she would wish for both, though a few purists insisted that technically she could only ask for one thing. Either way the Cipher Cranes were a surprisingly effective morale booster, a happy accident that Kayabuki was only marginally aware of. The betting pool was kept very, very quiet.

This particular morning found Kayabuki lounging in her command vehicle, methodically turning sheets of what was supposed to be regimental paperwork into more cranes as she listened to the semi-regular reports over the radio. The equally newly promoted Captain Kudo sighed at the sight, knowing that it would be his responsibility to make sure there were enough copies of those reports that Kayabuki did not end up turning all of them into origami before she actually needed to start filing them. Such was the trials of a regimental commander's aide-de-camp.

"Command, we're receiving reports from the coastal patrols," the radio cracked. "They're detecting something large approaching land."

Kayabuki straightened and tossed aside the stack of paper on her lap. "This is Kayabuki, do we have positive identification?"

"Aerial is moving into position now colonel, redirecting feed."

The video display showed a massive shadow under the water slowly slide towards dry land. Its shape was quite telling and Kayabuki felt no reason to actually wait for visual confirmation before making the call.

"Relay message to Tokyo-3," she ordered. "Angel sighted and approaching shoreline. Recommend deployment of EVAs."

"What about our troops ma'am?" Kudo asked.

"NERV apparently has something special in store," Kayabuki asked, doing her best not to smirk at the ludicrous plan that she was not supposed to know about. "We're to shadow the Angel but not to engage unless requested to do so. Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it!"

* * *

"What do you mean it's here early!?" Misato screamed into the phone.

"Recon detected the Angel resurfacing and making landfall ten minutes ago," Makoto reported. "It's already advancing towards Tokyo-3."

Misato spat out a string of curses. "Alright, prep the EVAs for launch, I'll go get the pilots."

It was a good thing the residents of Tokyo-3 had gotten so much practice following evacuation orders as the streets were almost deserted by the time Misato raced through them towards her apartment complex. Otherwise there might have been a genuine danger of her getting into a traffic accident, which would have been a rather inauspicious start to today's operation. As it was the scene she found when she burst into the apartment currently inhabited by the pilots was not that much better.

"Why are you two still asleep!" Misato demanded as she hauled Shinji and Asuka to their feet.

"Ugh, too damn early," Asuka protested groggily.

"It's almost 10AM! The Angel's here, get your butts in motion!"

"Can't we tell it come back later?" Shinji said, equally incoherent.

Misato was not sure whether to be amazed or appalled by the two's lack of urgency but her own was in fine form. She literally dragged the two out to her car, shoved them in and sped back to HQ. After more or less tossing them into the locker rooms, she rushed back to the command deck to find Amanda, Kaji, and Ritsuko all waiting.

"Yo," the UN inspector greeted. "How're the kids doing?"

"I have no idea if this is going to work," Misato groaned. "If I didn't know better those two spent last night up together."

Amanda raised an eyebrow while Ritsuko seemed taken aback.

"You don't mean?" Amanda began.

"No, I don't think so," Misato said, "Shinji-kun is still alive after all. But if whatever happened last night adds any new complications to their cooperation, we're in big trouble."

Amanda seemed to think for a moment before walking over to Makoto.

"Can you get me a line to both pilots?"

"Huh? Umm, I think so," he said, glancing over to his actual superior. Misato simply nodded in resignation and the technician went along. "Line open."

"Shinji, Asuka, you hear me?"

"What is it Amanda?" a considerably more alive sounding Asuka replied.

"I just wanted you two to know, if you pull this off, I'll take all of you to a nice hotpot dinner tonight."

"Trying to bribe us with food?" Asuka snickered.

"It's always worked before," Amanda replied cheerfully.

The girl chuckled. "Alright, but since I know you have money I'm not going to let you off like I would Misato."

Misato felt a slight reddening of her cheeks as laughter rippled amongst the staff and some of their tension bled off. Amanda closed the connection and smiled back at her friend.

"There, that should do it."

"I hope so," Misato said grudgingly. "Are the EVAs in position?"

"Moving to catapults now," Makoto said.

"Music track?"

"Loaded and ready," Maya replied.

"Remind me to thank Soren for the recording," Misato said to Amanda.

"And where is my thanks for the idea?" Kaji said with a playful grin.

"I thought she already gave you it last night," Amanda put in before Misato could reply.

"Amanda!" Misato cried out in indignation.

"What? How is it my fault you two decided to start making out down the hall from my office?"

The faces of the personnel on the command deck was a mixture of exasperation, embarrassment, and amusement in equal measure. Before Misato could quite die from her own humiliation, Makoto coughed.

"EVAs have arrived at the catapult."

"Thank god," Misato muttered. "All stations report ready?"

"Yes ma'am. Angels are now entering engagement zone."

"Launch!"

The specific piece that now rang through the communications network was a recording Soren made many years ago. In addition to being a violinist the German was known to be a competent pianist even if he had not quite reached the same heights as with his primary instrument. Nevertheless there was a definite correlation between the pacing of this particular piece and the proposed plan of attack. That it exactly matched the 62 seconds of power that the current generation of EVA batteries could provide when under heavy load was treated as a happy coincidence by most involved.

As the EVAs flew into the air and disconnected from their power plugs, the piece began with a rising flourish that settled into a repeating but ever climbing pattern. The opening came to a pointed close as the two EVAs threw the pre-mounted spears and cleaved the Angel in two once more. This time the two halves responded much more quickly, regenerating in mere seconds instead of playing dead. In that window Asuka and Shinji grabbed hold of the deployed weapons and opened fire, peppering their targets and chewing away at the Angels' forms. The response came quickly as bursts of light erupted from the two creatures and they began bombarding the EVAs. Weapons in hand, Shinji and Asuka performed a series of backflips until landing behind a blast plate. The armor shot up and buckled under the energy blasts but gave the two pilots enough time to take aim once more and let loose.

Apparently deciding to solve this problem with more direct means, the Angels leapt forth out of the incoming fire and came crashing down against the armor. Once more the EVAs dodged as the Angels sliced clean through the plate, only to suddenly come under bombardment from Tokyo-3's conventional defenses. Stymied once more, the doppelgangers had no time to react as suddenly Unit 01 and 02 kneed the two Angels and sent them flying up. A follow up ax kick brought them crashing down, smashing the Angels into each other. Their AT-fields badly eroded, the two halves began to lose cohesion and began melting into each other.

Sensing their chance, Asuka and Shinji charged forth and threw their EVAs into symmetrical flying kicks. They slammed into the half-merged Angel, smashing the two cores into each other and slowly fracturing the combined form even as their momentum carried them outside the city limits and into the neighboring hill. As the timer drew down to zero, the core finally cracked and an explosion marked the death of the obstinate Seventh Angel.

"We got it!" Misato cheered. "What about the pilots!"

"The smoke is still clearing," Aoba said as the hovering drones tried to peek through the clouds of dust and ash.

After a few seconds of bated breath, the winds finally blew away enough to reveal the intact and very awkwardly positioned Unit 01 and 02 in a tangled pile. Jaws dropped from all the personnel, NERV and otherwise, viewing the scene.

Shinji pulled himself out of the entry plug, still a bit winded from the last mad dash to kill the Angel before their power ran out. Suddenly the emergency phone attached to the outside of the plug rang and when the Third Child answered he was immediately greeted with the projection of an irate redhead.

"What the hell Third Child! Look what you did to my 02!"

"Me!?" Shinji protested. "How is this my fault!"

"You were the one that screwed up the landing!" Asuka screamed. "After everything I did for you last night and you still can't do anything right! Are you sure there isn't something wrong with your head!?"

"Oh come on! You kept me from sleeping all night last night and you think that I'm the one that screwed up the landing!? How are you so sure you weren't the one that messed up!?"

The form of holography built into the phone system was effectively an optical illusion, meant to convey the impression of depth without actually having any substance behind it. Yet somehow when Asuka's form slammed her receiver against Shinji's head the Third Child swore he had just been smacked by something really hard and very real.

"What the hell as that for!" Shinji exclaimed, not even registering the insanity of the impact.

"You know exactly what that was for!" Asuka snapped. "Don't you dare ever try to shove off your own responsibilities to someone else! Aren't you supposed to be a man!?"

Laughter had now replaced lockjaw as the incapacitating factor back at HQ as all save a select few personnel on the command deck bawled at the scene. On the other hand Amanda, Misato, and Fuyutsuki in a remarkable alignment of thoughts were simply grasping their heads.

"They're embarrassing us again."

End of Chapter 7

More humor, more bonding, and a late addition of about 700 words to fulfill a request from a reader. Also done in humor. Anyway, after this all of you will be getting around three chapters of basically slice of life stuff that's intended for character development and bonding. Also some plot development as well, including a somewhat major thing for both the pilots and the sidesteppers.

Chapter 12 has been an absolute pain to write. So has chapter 11 for that matter, but it's more or less done unless something pops up that I feel the need to wedge in. I also have parts of chapter 13 drafted up. Either way, 12 and 13 are going to be somewhat pivotal moments in this fic and getting them right will be, tiresome. Still I expect coming up with content post chapter 13 will actually be even trickier. I have a roadmap but there's a gap there that I still don't know how I want to fill. I need to basically come up with scenes, but those scenes cannot just be filler. They need to serve a purpose, otherwise I'm likely to get bored trying to write them. It's the trap I fell into with Darkness Risen actually, though I think after I get this fic done I'll go back and polish that off.

Post chapter 13, I actually have quite a bit of text written. I've got a big chunk of what one might consider the penultimate climax of the story drafted, even if it's missing a few scenes. It'll likely end up as two separate chapters due to the sheer amount of content that I need to dump in. I also have scenes for quite a few other events that will happen, many of which will reveal much more about the sidesteppers and their little network.

I am a bit curious as to how much people have managed to figure out about the sidesteppers' network. And by network I mean the support network they've put together to advance their objective. It shouldn't be too obvious, but based off of the people introduced and the hints dropped some things should at least be guessable. After all, as I insinuated in the last chapter's notes the majority of the sidesteppers have been focusing on stuff away from Tokyo-3. And what they've got planned is big. Figuratively and literally.

At this point if you have trouble trying to figure out who people are, check the reviews. Your fellow readers have been quite prolific in expressing their guesses.

Z98


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Adagio

"Thank you for the food!"

The customary prelude dealt with, the gathered began tossing ingredients into their respective hotpots. The Reimer-Sommer house was quite large considering the still inflated real estate prices in Japan. That said it was on the outer edges of Tokyo-3 so the property value was probably not quite as extortionist as it otherwise might have been. Still it was no mean feat hosting so many people at once. The scene was effectively a repeat of the dinner party that celebrated Asuka's arrival in Japan though this time Kaji was also along. Even so the dinner table did not feel cramped despite the number of hotpots boiling away.

Amanda had not actually procured enough pots to let everyone get their own, but she had come surprisingly close. The German woman had also strategically placed the pots to basically force select individuals to share, or that was how Misato and Asuka interpreted the current arrangement. The groups sat facing each other with their respective hotpot in between to make it easily reachable by both parties. This configuration resulted in Amanda and Soren naturally sharing one while Kaji and Misato shared, somewhat grudgingly on the latter's part, another. The pilots actually had two hotpots arranged between them, out of courtesy to Rei's vegetarian diet. Shinji found himself across from his fellow pilots as Asuka was seated next to the blue-haired girl, resulting in him basically having to face them for the duration of the meal. He supposed it was Amanda's subtle way of telling him and Asuka to play nice for tonight.

"Well, I'm just glad that the plan worked as intended," Kaji said as he dropped a large helping of meat into the broth.

"Of course it did," Asuka said cheerfully. "You came up with it of after all Kaji."

"That doesn't always make it a good idea," Misato said to the girl next to her. "Kaji's pulled some rather stupid stunts in his youth."

"That's not what you said when you went along with them," Kaji said with a grin.

The banter went back and forth but Shinji only paid them half a mind. His focus was on the selection of sauces, spices, and herbs that Amanda had provided to liven the taste. Shinji was still an amateur when it came to the culinary arts but he was learning rapidly. His brief experimentation tonight had already produced some dividends as he presented Ayanami with a mixture to try. The girl had tasted it without reservation and proclaimed it delicious, after which Asuka promptly demanded a serving as well.

"Hmm, it's rather mild if you ask me," Asuka pronounced.

"Well if you don't like it," Shinji began.

"Baka, I didn't say that," Asuka retorted. "I just said that there's room for improvement. Isn't that the basis for living? You can always get better no matter how good you are."

That was a fair point so Shinji conceded it, examining a few of the stronger spices to see if there might be a way to strengthen the flavor without outright destroying it. On the other side of the table Amanda and Soren exchanged knowing smiles as Soren finished whipping up his own special blend and gave his wife a serving. Misato was sadly left out of this bonding of pot mates as Kaji was unfortunately lacking in the talents of his neighbors, but her seat between Amanda and Asuka meant she was at least positioned to sample both women's sauces when they were so inclined to such charity.

"Oh right, Asuka, are you okay with where you're currently living?" Misato asked.

The Second Child shrugged, her mouth otherwise full.

"It's fine," she said after a few seconds of chewing and swallowing. "I take it that'll be my permanent residence here?"

"That's what we're thinking," Misato said, gesturing at her friend. "Amanda's place might be nice and big, but it's also kind of out of the way and less convenient for school."

"No problems with me," Asuka said. "I can take care of myself just fine."

Misato chuckled. "Are you sure you won't be dropping by for Shinji's cooking every night?"

Asuka's eyes shifted evasively as she muttered an utterly incoherent response.

"Asuka, if you're going to take advantage of Misato and Shinji's hospitality at least help pitch in from time to time," Amanda lectured.

"Yes, yes."

"And you won't be living alone," Misato added. "We're thinking of having you and Rei room together."

Asuka stared at the woman and then turned to face the girl in question. Rei made no visible reaction, instead helping herself to some more of the cabbage and noodles.

"That won't be a problem?" Misato asked.

"I guess," Asuka said. "Though, and don't take this the wrong way First, why?"

"I wasn't kidding when I said you and Rei were able to achieve remarkable synchronicity during the training," Misato said. "In the interest of maintaining it, and because none of us want you living alone no matter what you may think on that matter, we thought it would work best if you roomed with Rei." The captain raised an eyebrow. "Or were you hoping we'd stick you alone with Shinji?"

Thud. "As if!"

"Fraulein, please refrain from damaging my property," Soren said.

Blushing, Asuka settled back down but was again glaring at Misato. Shinji decided that now was not a good time to make any witty remarks.

"By the way, are you free this weekend Shinji-kun?" Kaji asked.

"I think so," Shinji replied, finally claiming a bounty of meat while Asuka was still distracted being angry at Misato. Rei took advantage of both their diverted attentions however and claimed the last cooked fried tofu from the other pot, much to the other two pilots' chagrin. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I thought I'd take the three of you on a little field trip to celebrate your victory over the Seventh Angel," the older man said. "Do you know about the Japan Marine Ecosystem Preservation Research Organization?"

Shinji shook his head.

"It's a group that works to preserve marine life that has been dying out due to the effects of Second Impact and to eventually clean the ocean and restore life in it. I think you three would get a lot out of seeing it."

"Oh? That sounds kind of interesting."

"Bring your friends along too," Kaji suggested. "You're the ones inheriting the future after all, you should be there to see just what it might hold."

"I'll do that," Shinji said, and promptly rejoined the fight for meat and fried tofu.

A fight where he was sadly outnumbered two to one. An hour later and after a relatively satisfying dinner Misato, Kaji, and the pilots prepared to take their leave. Shinji sighed, wondering if he was ever going to get on the Second Child's good side. Considering how much time they were likely to spend together, being her punching bag was decidedly not appealing.

"Herr Ikari."

Shinji looked up. "Oh, Reimer-san, Kaji-san, I didn't see you there."

"Something wrong kiddo?" Kaji asked.

"Umm, just thinking about Asuka-san," Shinji admitted. "I just, don't know how to approach her."

Soren frowned. "Did something happen?"

"No, not really," Shinji began but stopped himself. "Well, she found out about a couple of times when I accidentally saw Ayanami, umm, naked."

While the German remained stoic as ever and only raised an eyebrow Kaji burst out in laughter. He clapped Shinji reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about it," he said. "I'm sure Asuka'll get over it eventually."

"Did she actually say anything to indicate she was angry with you?" Soren asked.

"Umm, she just yelled at me a little bit and accused me of being a pervert," Shinji said. "And, something about a wall of Jericho? I didn't really understand that."

"The wall of Jericho," Soren said thoughtfully, pulling out a smartphone.

In the post-Second Impact world, technology and devices that were rugged were favored over form and fancy features. Even in technology obsessed Japan people preferred the tried and the true over the latest gizmo of the year. That said phones that could serve as effectively mobile computing platforms did exist. They however tended to be true luxury items seeing as they combined not only the function of a computer in such a small package but also the durability necessary to last several years of hard usage. Thick and tough was the rule of thumb, the extra bulk not only adding to the overall strength of the frame but also providing space for batteries that lasted days on end.

"Hmm, interesting," Soren said as he looked up the reference. "From my experience when the fraulein makes such declarations, they tend to be challenges. If she truly despised you I doubt she would have chosen the walls of Jericho as the bounds of her, well, virtue."

Shinji blinked. "Umm, I'm not sure I understand."

"The walls of Jericho fell," Soren explained, tapping his smartphone with a finger, "after a relatively simple ritual assuming you believe the Judeo legends. It would seem to me that the fraulein seeks to test whether you have the will to get closer to her."

The Third Child blinked again, this time as understanding dawned. Yet that understanding only added to his own confusion. Asuka was bright like the sun, an overpowering force that threatened to sweep him away. Rei was quiet, serene, and at times Shinji thought he could become lost in the calmness she projected. But then there was Mayumi, a girl he met through sheer accident. She was shy, earnest, and perhaps most of all kind. Just what was he getting himself into here? But Asuka, Asuka was apparently trying to reach out to him in her own stilted way. If he did not respond, would she be hurt? Shinji found that he did not like that much either.

"Umm, you mentioned a ritual?"

This time both Kaji and Soren smiled and the German handed his smartphone over to the boy. Whatever he did with that knowledge, the two were certain it would be quite entertaining.

* * *

The bell sounded and Hikari called the class to bid farewell to the teacher as another day of classes ended. Shinji stretched and yawned, his mind feeling more than a bit haggard at the mental pounding it had suffered through the afternoon classes. Chemistry was starting to make more sense to him but physics still remained elusively abstract. Like any normal person Shinji preferred having something concrete and observable when he had problems to solve. As far as he was concerned those people that actually enjoyed pure math and physics theory were loopy. In retrospect, perhaps the ease with which the Second Child was always able to answer any question lobbed at her during lectures was a sign of something. Shinji wisely decided to leave that hypothesis untested.

"Yo, prof," Toji greeted as he walked over to Shinji's desk. "Ready for another afternoon of purgatory-I mean, important studying?"

"Oh yeah, that was today," Shinji said. "So whose turn is it to host?"

"The class rep's," Toji said. "We'll be picking up my sis along the way, apparently she and Hikari's lil sis have a playdate or something."

"Alright," Shinji said, packing up his books and remembering to bring along all of the makeup work he had built up thanks to the weeklong absence for training. He glanced over at the redhead, who was also preparing to make her exit. "Asuka-san, did you want to come along?"

"No can do," Asuka replied hurriedly. "I've got a lesson with the Maestro in half an hour and I still need to swing by the apartment to grab my violin."

"Oh, I see," Shinji said.

"Hey First, if you get back before me remember to turn on the AC," Asuka called to her roommate before dashing out without waiting for an answer.

"Huh, those two're getting along swell," Toji commented.

Shinji supposed that it probably looked that way to his friend. True Asuka was not being antagonistic to Rei, but there was still a subtle friction between the two girls. Whereas the German girl was dynamic and assertive, Ayanami remained fairly passive and laid back. They were like oil and water, side by side but unable to mix. At the same time in her own way Asuka was trying to reach out to Rei and her brusqueness was simply an indication that the redhead was unsure of how to better do so. Once Rei started responding, Shinji was hopeful that their interactions would become more natural and less of Asuka basically shouting at the First Child.

"Ayanami," Shinji said as he walked over. "Did you want to join us? We're holding a study session at Horaki-san's place and I know you also got a lot of makeup homework while helping us train."

Rei blinked in surprise at Shinji but still answered in a steady tone. "I have finished the assigned coursework."

"Oh, really?" Shinji said, trying not to sound awestruck. When and how the First Child had found time to go through all of that he could not begin to guess.

"But, I can provide some assistance if you require it," Rei continued.

Shinji smiled. "Well, I'd definitely appreciate it."

Rei nodded and stood to follow him. The others were already at the doorway waiting.

"Ayanami will be joining us today," Shinji said as they approached.

"Oh really?" Hikari said. "Umm, okay, I'm going to need some more ingredients then."

"Ingredients?" Shinji said questioningly.

"Umm well, I know you got a lot of makeup work and thought it might take a while to go through them, so I thought it might be more convenient to have dinner at my place," Hikari said with a slight blush.

Shinji, naïve in the ways of the world as he was, was not completely dense.

"Ah, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Should we stop by the grocery store on the way back?"

Hikari nodded and smiled in thanks at the Third Child.

"Is there anything you particularly like Ayanami-san?" Hikari asked.

"Something vegetarian would suffice," Rei answered succinctly.

"Got it."

"Hmm, we should probably let Asuka know we're having dinner at Horaki-san's," Shinji said to Rei. "Otherwise she might be wondering where her food is."

"Do you cook for all of you, Ikari-kun?" Hikari asked.

Shinji nodded with a wiry smile.

"Well, why not invite her along?" Hikari suggested. "She might not be able to make it to the study group, but no reason she needs to eat dinner alone tonight."

"I'm sure Asuka-san would appreciate the offer," Shinji said. "I'll send her a text."

Half an hour later after picking up Sakura and Nozomi and a quick supply run, they were at the Horaki residence. The younger siblings made a dash for Nozomi's room and soon disappeared.

"Make yourselves at home," Hikari said as they entered. "I'm going to put the groceries away."

"I'll help!"

"Oh um, thank you Suzuhara."

"He's got it bad," Kensuke whispered to Shinji as the rest of them entered the living room.

"Well we should be happy for him," Shinji said, sitting down and pulling out his schoolwork.

"I suppose," Kensuke said. "Guess I'm a bit jealous that both my good buds have hooked up already."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kensuke sighed. "I suppose it's true what they say about the blind leading the blind. Never mind."

Shinji shrugged, content to drop the subject as his friend requested. A few minutes later Hikari and Toji entered with a selection of drinks.

"Sorry for the wait," Hikari said. "Umm, Ayanami-san, I didn't know what you'd like so I brought a bit of everything."

"Tea would be fine," Rei said.

"Okay, let's see, this is a decent brand of bottled green tea. I can boil a fresh pot later when we get closer to dinner."

Rei accepted the drink with a nod of thanks.

"So, Ikari-kun, what has been giving you the most problem in class?" Hikari asked. "We should probably focus on that so you can get as much help as you can now."

"Umm, that's a good idea," Shinji said, flipping through the papers. "Ah here, the physics problem sets. We're doing thermal expansion right now."

"That's it?" Toji said. "Things get big when hot, small when cold. What's hard bout that?"

The boy's comment earned stunned looks from all present save Rei, causing him to blink in confusion.

"What?"

"Toji, did you just say something smart?" Kensuke asked his friend.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?"

"Well I just never expected you to claim a scientific principle was easy," Kensuke said. "I mean, your grades sure don't reflect it."

"Oh shut it you."

"Classmate Suzuhara is correct," Rei suddenly said. "The principle of thermal expansion is straightforward. As temperature is a monotonic function of the average kinetic energy of a substance, it stands to reason that an increase in energy would result in greater distances between the molecules of the substance. The inverse is also a logical conclusion."

This time Toji joined the others in staring at their classmate. Rei tilted her head.

"Was there an inaccuracy in my description?"

"Ah, no, no," Hikari said quickly with a nervous laugh. "That's all true. I think Suzuhara and Ikari-kun here just have trouble applying the concept in the problem sets."

Rei thought it over before nodding in acceptance.

"Well, let's take a look at some of the problems and work through them," Hikari suggested.

Shinji nodded dumbly, placing the paper where more people could see it. As Rei leaned in to examine the sheet, her hand brushed ever so slightly over Shinji's. The Third Child's face flashed crimson.

"Wonder if the prof's face is gonna expand from all that heat," Toji muttered half-jokingly.

Rei, as always, interpreted the statement literally. "While certain parts of the human body will indeed expand when subjected to increased temperatures, the human face is not one that noticeably does so."

At this point Shinji was not the only one completely red faced. When Nozomi and Sakura poked into the living room to inquire about snacks, they were greeted by a panicked scrambling of bodies.

* * *

"Thank you for the help again Ikari-kun," Hikari said as she stirred the miso soup.

"It's no trouble," Shinji assured her. "Besides, cooking with someone tends to make things easier, even if there're more people to feed."

Hikari giggled. "I suppose so. Hopefully we have enough, if I had known nee-san was going to be home tonight I'd have gotten more things while shopping."

The arrival of Kodama Horaki and Asuka had turned the study group into an impromptu party. The high school girl chatted away happily with the German girl, filling her in on all of the social news and tidbits to supplement what Hikari had provided her friend. Rei actually seemed politely attentive even if she did not directly engage in the conversation, absorbing the information for potential future use. Kensuke and Toji on the other hand seemed at a loss of how to deal with all the girl talk and seeing as how he was dating Kodama's little sister, the jock was forced to at least feign interest to avoid any hiccups to his own relationship. Shinji at least had the refuge of the kitchen and made his escape posthaste.

"Hikari-nee," Nozomi said as she scampered in. "Is dinner ready yet?"

"Almost," Hikari said to her little sister. "Why don't you and Sakura-chan go keep nee-san and the others company?"

"Nah, nee-san keeps talking about icky things."

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well go tell nee-san that if she doesn't behave I might just add some special sauce to her soup."

"Okay!"

The girl dashed out cheerfully and a few seconds later a cry of indignation came from the living room. Shinji chuckled at the scene.

"This feels nice," he said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I never really knew what it felt like to have a family, but if this is it, it definitely feels nice."

"Well having three girls in the house can be a bit of a handful," Hikari said. "Bathroom time in the morning tends to be, vicious."

A genuine laugh emitted from the Third Child. "I suppose I should be glad then that Asuka-san isn't moving in with me and Misato-san."

Hikari closed the lid on the pot and turned to Shinji. "Say, Ikari-kun, how do you feel about Ayanami-san and Asuka-san?"

Caught off guard, Shinji blinked. "Huh? Umm, I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, even before Asuka-san arrived you seemed to be paying more and more attention to Ayanami-san. And then you lived with both of them for about a week for that training. Are you going to say you don't feel anything at all? You are a boy after all."

Shinji blushed slightly, wondering how safe it would be to let the class rep know about his incidents with Rei. On balance he decided that he would keep that between himself, Rei, and Asuka. And Kaji and Soren. The boy sighed. Why did he even bother at this point.

"I guess I do care about them," Shinji said. "We're all pilots and we each risk our lives fighting the Angels. I definitely don't want to see them get hurt and I want to be there to help them when they need it. But beyond that? I'm not really sure."

Hikari nodded and smiled. "I think you're a kind person, Ikari-kun. I already suspected that after you started hanging around with Suzuhara and Aida. And I know you're telling the truth about caring for Ayanami-san and Asuka-san. I don't know if that will turn into anything more, but as Asuka-san's friend, I just want to make sure you don't forget that she is there."

Girls, as Shinji was quickly learning, were quite perceptive. They were also extremely difficult to understand. While the blush that was creeping over his face made clear he had at least some idea of what Hikari was talking about, his silence also betrayed his own muddled state of mind thanks to all the other complications at play.

"I'll, try to do that," he finally said.

"That is all I ask," Hikari said, turning back to her own preparations.

* * *

"Damn prof, who'd've thunk you knew how to cook?"

"Seeing as how I make my own lunch every day, you probably should have," Shinji retorted.

"I must say, this is impressive," Kodama said. "Hey Hikari, you sure you didn't pick the wrong guy for your boyfriend? If I were you I'd dump the jock and claim Ikari-kun here before some other lucky lady does."

Toji began choking and was soon too busy trying to avoid suffocating to protest.

"Nee-san, please stop eyeing Ikari-kun like that," Hikari said calmly. "I'll have you know that he is far too well behaved to be tempted by your, mature allure."

"Oh? And how would you know that?"

Without warning Hikari plucked Aida's cellphone from the boy's pocket almost without him noticing. She opened it and browsed through the boy's directories even as he cried in protest at the blatant violation of his privacy. Hikari paid him no mind until she found the picture she was looking for and showed it to her sister.

"This is his guardian."

The photo in question was a candid albeit still legal to possess for a junior high school student of one Misato Katsuragi. The captain was in her at home clothes, the remarkably short shorts revealing the full length of her legs and the tight top the bounty of her bosom. A most convincing piece of evidence in support of the class rep's point.

"Che." Kodama conceded the point even as her eyes betrayed the laughter she was holding in.

"So that's where the leftovers are going," Asuka said. "No wonder you don't let me take any with me."

"Well all the food is coming from our household budget," Shinji began with a sly smile. "Of course, if you ever feel a craving for something besides the school cafeteria's fare, you could always chip in a bit at home."

Asuka's eyes narrowed even as she grinned. "Is that how it is? Sure Third Child, I'll chip in, but I expect a veritable feast for lunch every day!"

Shinji sighed inwardly but he supposed the redhead's reaction was expected. Provoking the German girl always had a price, no matter how playful the exchange was. Still, there was no point in letting her victory be total.

"What about you, Ayanami?" Shinji asked. "I don't remember seeing you ever with lunch. Would you like me to bring something for you?"

Rei looked at Shinji in surprise but eventually nodded. "Your concern is appreciated."

Asuka's triumphant look quickly disappeared as she reverted back to glaring at the Third Child.

"Damn, you've got both tsun and dere there Shinji," Toji said, having recovered from his near death experience.

With Asuka having joined in his karate training, Shinji had a healthy appreciation for the redhead's reach. Toji now experienced that reach first hand as he was subjected to his second near death experience of the evening. No one was quite prepared to claim it would be his last before the night was over.

"By the way," Shinji said, after the meal resumed. "I received an invitation to visit the marine life preservation institution this weekend. I was told that I could bring along some friends as well. Are any of you free?"

"The preservation institution?" Kensuke said excitedly. "The place dedicated to the preservation of animal life that has been threatened by Second Impact and the eventual restoration of ocean life!? That sounds awesome! Count me in!"

"Umm, I think I'm free," Hikari said, casting a look at her boyfriend. Toji quickly nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah, that should be okay. I'll make sure to bring a lunch for us."

"I'll bring something too," Shinji said.

"Thanks, Ikari-kun."

"Can we come too!?" Nozomi and Sakura asked simultaneously.

"I think so," Shinji said, pulling out his cellphone. "I'll text Kaji-san and check if there's any sort of age limit."

"Yay!"

"Hmm, a good cook and good with the kids," Kodama said. "Really Hikari, you're going to just let him get away?"

"Onee-san, enough with that already!" Hikari protested.

"Fine, fine, just don't come running to me when some other girl snatches him away."

For some reason Kodama's eyes fell upon the two other pilots. Rei remained unperturbed but Asuka, Asuka actually looked away with an ever subtle blush on her cheeks. This did not escape any of her classmates. Kensuke and Toji simply looked on in horror while Hikari smiled slightly. Shinji on the other hand felt another bout of confusion start raging. There was no way Asuka was actually interested in him, was there? But then he remembered Soren's words. Asuka had issued a challenge to him to get closer to her. If he answered it, would she let him actually get close?

That thought suddenly caused a flash of guilt. There was another girl he had been getting closer to, though thanks to the synchronization training he had not been able to see her for the past week. Shinji felt like he should make it up to her somehow. Maybe Mayumi would also enjoy a visit to the institute. Or was that too big a step? There would be other people there after all so it should count as just an outing with friends. Shinji resolved to ask the girl the next time they bumped into each other.

The faint buzz of his phone interrupted his thoughts and Shinji looked at it to see Kaji's response. He chuckled.

"What is it?" Kensuke asked.

Shinji held it up for the others to see. Soon he was not the only one chuckling.

Don't see why not, not like I invited anyone besides a bunch of kids to begin with.

Kaji

* * *

"Excuse me," Ritsuko said as she entered the office.

"Ah, Ritsuko," Amanda greeted. "Have a seat. You're early."

"I thought we should get this over with," Ritsuko said. "I'm sure we both have lots of work to do."

"Well this is part of my job," Amanda pointed out as she set aside the paper she was reviewing.

Ritsuko cleared her throat. "I suppose so. Still, I'm not sure if we really need to spend too much time with this."

"Oh? You don't like talking with me?" Amanda grinned mischievously.

"That's not it," Ritsuko said. "It's just, you know full well what my responsibilities are. Do you really need to check up on me?"

"These meetings are more about just your personal responsibilities," Amanda stated. "And besides, I know the responsibilities of everyone in NERV. What I don't know is how well each person is carrying out their duty."

Ritsuko winced slightly under the older woman's gaze. "You doubt my dedication?"

"Ritsuko, if you were any more dedicated I would be carrying tranq rounds with me just so I could force you to rest," Amanda said. "Every project that you are responsible for is moving along at an acceptable rate, regardless of how much the commander or the rest of the committee might whine."

And by committee Amanda really meant SEELE, Ritsuko knew. "And? What is the problem then that you feel this talk will help remedy?"

Amanda tapped her desk. "You seem rather defensive, Ritsuko. Do you think you could calm down a little bit?"

The scientist looked at her friend and sighed. "Sorry. I guess the stress is getting to me more than I would like it to."

"Better, but we'll have to work on that," Amanda said. "And you aren't entirely wrong, there is a problem that does need to be dealt with."

Ritsuko tensed up once more, eyes narrowing. "Oh?"

"You are correct that I am fully cognizant of all your responsibilities," Amanda said. "At this junction you are one of the few people that are genuinely irreplaceable to the Human Instrumentality Project. Fraulein Ibuki might be able to complete some of your work should you ever become indisposed, but let's not kid ourselves, she would likely suffer a mental breakdown if she ever became fully aware of just what you are up to."

Ritsuko frowned, wondering whether the mention of her assistant was meant as a warning or simply as a throwaway reference of convenience.

"With that indispensability comes a certain amount of power," Amanda continued. "The committee would be quite tolerant of any outside interests you might pursue, so long as they did not conflict with the achievement of Instrumentality itself. And yet as far as I can tell, you have no outside interests. In fact you have literally no interests outside of your immediate responsibilities to Project E. I find that rather curious."

"Let me get this straight," Ritsuko said. "You find me focusing on my work suspicious?"

"For a person of your obvious intelligence? Quite. I would have thought you would at least have some personal ambition that you would use as an outlet for your talents, something that would allow you to switch gears as it were to recharge your mental energy in between work. And yet beyond certain, liaisons, on your part, there's nothing."

Now the scientist's eyes flared in irritation. "I hardly think what I do in my free time is any business of yours or the committee's."

Amanda snorted. "I already said you weren't stupid, so stop trying to pretend otherwise. Everything you do is our business."

Despite her growing anger at the UN auditor, Ritsuko's mind did pick up an interesting point. Amanda referred to the committee, or rather SEELE, and herself as we. The obvious identification with the old men was telling.

"At the same time what you do outside of your assigned projects is your choice," Amanda repeated, "keeping in mind the obvious qualifier. And right now I can't help but think that that condition might well be in danger."

"You think I'll do something to disrupt Instrumentality?"

"Is that not what the commander has asked you to do?" Amanda stated. "Prepare the implements of Instrumentality but deliver them unto his hands, not ours."

Careful, Ritsuko thought. If she miss-stepped here SEELE would not hesitate to remove her, Amanda's claims about her indispensability be damned.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about," Ritsuko finally settled on. "My work has been in perfect accordance to the instructions handed down by the committee. If you feel that is not the case, you are welcome to conduct a thorough audit of my conduct."

In other words, prove your suspicions or stop wasting my time.

Amanda leaned back and for some reason smiled. It was a sad smile, almost pitying. Ritsuko hated it even more so.

"What do you think he is giving you, that binds you so tightly to him?"

The doctor's eyes widened before she could restrain herself. There was no doubt Amanda saw the brief crack as she nodded knowingly. Ritsuko ground her teeth, trying to come up with some kind of denial that would not sound utterly hollow. Amanda however already had her next blow lined up.

"You want to be loved, don't you?"

Ritsuko froze, all thoughts blown away as Amanda laid bare the very thing she so carefully hid from even herself. Why did she tolerate Gendo's inconsistent attentions, his almost certainly empty promises and words? Because he offered them and she craved them, no matter how hollow they were. And because no one else had ever said them to her. The doctor remained sitting there in the still silence for what seemed an eternity. She might have continued doing so save for Amanda's next words.

"I think we're done here, Dr. Akagi. I'll see you next month."

The dismissal was as abrupt as the preceding question and Ritsuko obeyed almost mechanically. Once back in the sanctuary of her own office, she frantically dug for a cigarette. Her mind was too rattled, her body too shaken to try to sort through the whirlwind Amanda had unleashed. And so she sought for some kind of calm, even if one pharmaceutically induced. Some things a person just could not face alone after all.

* * *

"Mayumi-san, it's been a while."

The girl spun around and immediately brightened. "Shinji-kun!"

"I'm sorry for my absence," Shinji said with a slight bow. "Something came up with my father's, work, and I ended up not being able to really go out for about a week."

"That's alright," Mayumi said. "Is everything okay now?"

To her credit Mayumi did not ask after Shinji's father. Quiet though she may be, the girl was also incredibly observant and had picked up on Shinji's discomfort when his family was brought up much faster than Shinji had figured out her own reaction to mention of hers.

"Yeah," Shinji said. "Umm, actually things worked out really well and a coworker of father has invited me to visit the Marine Ecosystem Preservation Research Organization. Have you heard of it?"

Mayumi nodded, her eyes glistening just a little bit. "It's a place where they breed ocean animals and plants that have been dying out because of Second Impact."

"Well, my father's coworker said I could invite a few friends along as well and I was wondering, if you would like to go?"

That last part was delivered in an increasingly hesitant tone, not surprising seeing as Mayumi's face grew redder in concert with every word uttered.

"Umm, a few of my other friends are also coming!" Shinji hurriedly added on. "So is my friend's little sister! And my friend's girlfriend-I mean a female classmate! And her little sister too!"

"Oh, I see," Mayumi said, clearing her throat as she calmed herself. She almost managed to keep a slightly disappointed tone out of her voice. "Umm, that, that sounds really interesting actually. I've never had a chance to see many live animals. Yes, I think, I would like to go."

Shinji smiled in relief. "Then you can come?"

"Oh, I'll need to check with the orphanage," Mayumi said, "but I think so."

Shinji nodded. "Umm, don't worry about the train fare, I can come get you."

"Oh no, no, you're already inviting me out like this, I can't possibly-"

"Mayumi-san," Shinji said, his voice firming up. "You don't need to worry about it. We're friends after all, right?"

Mayumi took a deep breath before nodding. "Yes, we are friends, Shinji-kun."

"Alright. And, Mayumi-san? Umm, I'll also tell you why I came to the city then. What my father does. And what I do."

The girl's eyes widened before the smile reached them. "Okay Shinji-kun. I'll hold you to that."

* * *

The day of the awaited outing came quickly and Asuka made sure to get up bright and early to prepare. She was hardly going to waste an opportunity to spend some time with Kaji after all. In her not inconsiderable opinion only two men in her life had shown themselves worthy of her respect and affection. Soren was already taken by a woman Asuka also respected and knew not to cross but Kaji was still available, even if he seemed determined to woo Misato back into his arms. Part of Asuka knew she was likely never even in the running, but that did not mean the redhead needed to just lie down and let Misato win by default. If the operations chief wanted to get back Kaji, Asuka would make her work for it.

The older man had left a text with Asuka telling her not to bother too much with her hair today, something to do with the preservation institute's decontamination protocols, so Asuka settled for a quick shower that washed away the sweat of last night's sleep. The nightmares that had receded upon her arrival in Japan were starting to return and Asuka's nights were nowhere as restful as she would have liked. Still a good breakfast would probably banish those thoughts as Asuka clipped on the A10 connectors and changed into a tank top and a pair of comfortable shorts before heading over next door. One advantage of basically having the entire apartment complex to themselves was the lack of gossiping neighbors.

Rei was already there enjoying her morning tea and Asuka wasted little time claiming a seat at the dining table.

"Morning Shinji," she greeted. She could at least be courteous before being fed after all.

"Good morning Asuka-san," Shinji said, holding several plates of food. "Good timing, I just finished cooking."

"Yay!" Asuka cried happily as she contemplated what today's breakfast might be.

It was remarkable how quickly Shinji had become a proficient chef in both eastern and western cuisine. While Asuka had expected to have to cook for herself if she wanted a proper German breakfast, the second morning of her eating over in the Katsuragi household saw Shinji spread before her a hearty helping of eggs, sausages, toast with butter, and even a cup of coffee. Despite the amusement Asuka knew her stunned look provided the Third Child she had refrained from any snarky comments and instead thanked him. That had elicited a look of surprise from Shinji that Asuka was able to relish. The smile that he gave her afterward was even more heartening.

As her eyes followed the boy Asuka watched in confusion as he took a somewhat roundabout way to the table. In fact if she was not imaging it Shinji seemed to completely circle her before finally setting things down on the table.

"Here you go."

"Thanks," Asuka said, still regarding the Third Child oddly.

"Is something wrong?"

Thinking over it for a few more seconds the redhead decided it was just her imagination. "Nah, nothing."

Shinji shrugged and took his own seat before putting his hands together. "Thank you for the food."

Manners in this country were still a bit strange to Asuka but she went along with the motions. She was in Japan after all and she did have some Japanese blood in her. Still she had been raised German and there were some things she was far more comfortable with, such as using a fork and knife for eating instead of chopsticks. At least until she got proficient enough at it not to look like a bumbling fool at the dinner table.

"So how are we getting to the marine preserve?" Asuka asked in between bites.

"By train," Shinji said. "Kaji-san will be waiting there for us."

"Aww, Amanda couldn't drive us there?"

"I didn't ask," Shinji said. "And it's not really right to ask them for help for every little thing."

"I guess," Asuka conceded. "Man, I wish I was old enough to drive. With my pay I could even afford a decent car."

"Something as good as Reimer-san's?" Shinji asked.

The redhead snorted. "Yeah, no, not that nice. And I'm pretty sure the Maestro paid for all of their cars. I don't think the UN would look too kindly on one of their auditors asking to be reimbursed for a BMW or a Lamborghini."

"I see. Umm, if you were to buy a car, who would you get to teach you how to drive?"

Asuka waved the skewered sausage about in thought. "Probably Amanda. Kaji and the Maestro are both great guys, but I swear they compete with each other to see who can drive the craziest."

"Ah, yes," Shinji said, recalling his last and only ride with the German man. He glanced over at Rei who had quietly finished her meal already. "Was everything okay, Ayanami?"

"Yes," Rei stated.

"That's good. But if you want me to change anything, just let me know."

"The current combination, is more than adequate," Rei said with a small smile.

A huff from Asuka cut short Shinji's enjoyment of the compliment. "You never ask me if everything's okay."

The Third Child could not help but smirk. "I think you would tell me without any prompting on my part, Asuka-san."

Asuka regarded the other pilot with a bemused look. Shinji talking back was not an uncommon occurrence, though he still was too passive for Asuka's liking. But he was making progress and the redhead was looking forward to the day when he gave as good as he got all the time. Then maybe between the two of them they could get Rei to express herself a bit more strongly. They were her fellow pilots after all. Never let it be said that Asuka Langley Shikinami was completely self-centered. Her generosity was soon tested when Shinji informed them of a slight detour on their way.

* * *

The individuals gathered outside the massive gates were a varied bunch. Gender wise the boys were outnumbered two to one, the ratio evening out just a little bit if the avian member of the party was counted. For the most part there were no surprises to today's guest list, save for a long haired girl in a plain white dress and matching sunhat. The normally shy girl was feeling even more reticent as she quickly became the center of attention. That she had decided to basically hide behind Shinji was not helping matters.

"Damn Shinji, you've been holding out on us."

Toji's remark was quickly rewarded with a smack across the head by Hikari.

"Ow!"

"Baka Toji," Hikari admonished before smiling at the girl. "Sorry for his behavior. I'm Horaki Hikari, a classmate of Ikari-kun. The, child, over here is Suzuhara Toji, also a classmate. Don't worry, I'm getting him into shape."

Mayumi nodded and worked up the courage to step out from behind Shinji and bow.

"I'm Yamagishi Mayumi. Umm, I'm a friend of Shinji-kun's. We, kind of met while grocery shopping…"

Mayumi's voice trailed off towards the end there but everyone still heard her loud and clear.

"Aha, so I was right!" Kensuke proclaimed.

Whack.

"Ow! Class rep!"

"Behave or you aren't getting any lunch today."

"Yes ma'am," Kensuke said and immediately bowed politely. "I'm Aida Kensuke. I'm also a classmate of Shinji's."

"And collectively they're known as the Three Stooges," Asuka said as she stepped forth.

Mayumi blinked, still coming to terms with the forcefulness of Asuka's persona. Shinji smiled sympathetically. When he had arrived with his fellow pilots to pick up Mayumi the other girl had been completely speechless. Shinji's rehearsed speech explaining he worked for NERV and piloted an Evangelion had fallen into shambles as he stumbled through it. Ironically Asuka had stepped in, filling in the holes left by Shinji's rambling so that Mayumi got at least a basic understanding of what was going on. Thankfully she still seemed to treat Shinji much as before. If the boy had it his way, that would never change.

"Thank you for the invitation Shinji-nii!" Sakura said cheerfully, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"You're welcome Sakura-chan," Shinji said.

"Oi Sakura," Toji said. "I'm your brother here, not Shinji."

"But Shinji-nii is a lot more responsible," Sakura said.

"What, hey you!"

Sakura laughed and darted over to join Nozomi and Hikari. Kodama had ultimately politely declined the invitation due to other prearranged plans.

"It's nice to see her up and about like that," Shinji said.

"Yeah, yeah it is," Toji agreed.

After hearing about the Suzuhara siblings' close brush during the battle against the Third Angel, Shinji had visited the still recovering Sakura at the hospital. The little girl had immediately latched onto him and gushed about how happy she was to meet a hero like him. It was a bit overwhelming at first but Shinji was more than willing to let her have her way. Children had all too few things to be happy about in the world as it was after all.

"Oh, there's Kaji-san," Shinji said as he caught sight of the man in one of the windows.

Kaji waved at them and then spoke into the radio. "This is where it gets a tad tricky."

Nine humans and one penguin looked up in confusion at the statement. Thirty minutes later they finally emerged from the decontamination process, exhausted before even truly stepping into the marine sanctuary. That exhaustion evaporated as the doors opened and the party found themselves amidst the soft glow of water filtered light, a water that was filled with life.

"Wow," Shinji said. "So those are the animals that existed before Second Impact."

PenPen darted off immediately with a wark and Nozomi and Sakura chased after him, laughing as they ran. Toji and Kensuke were little better and Hikari seemed torn between trying to rein in her sister and her friend or her boyfriend and his friend. In the end she gave up on that and simply followed to try to minimize any damage. This left the trio of pilots and Mayumi to themselves as they walked slowly amongst the tanks in a more contemplative pace.

"To think that the oceans were once so full of life," Shinji said as he admired the fishes flittering by.

"It's rather beautiful," Asuka muttered.

Shinji looked at the girl in surprise, causing her to scowl.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just, wasn't expecting you to say that," Shinji admitted.

"Oh, and is there some rule that says I can't appreciate life?"

"Umm no, of course not."

Asuka glared at Shinji for another few seconds before letting him off. "Life is precious. We should appreciate it in all its many forms."

"Does that mean we should appreciate Angels as well?"

Asuka froze as she stared at Shinji and then burst out laughing. "Where did that come from?"

"Well you were the one that said it," Shinji said. "I mean, aren't Angels alive as well? Otherwise how would we kill them?"

The redhead considered it. "Huh, never thought of it that way. I suppose I can't say no to that without sounding like a hypocrite. But respecting life doesn't mean we have to let what we respect kill us. That'd just be stupid."

"Pilot Shikinami is correct," Rei suddenly said, placing a hand against a tank. "To live is the definition of life. To choose to cease to live for the sake of another, is not a choice to be made lightly."

"Hoh, well said First," Asuka said.

"All of you are rather introspective," Mayumi said admiringly.

"Well I suppose we have to be," Asuka said. "We do go into battle against Eldritch abominations. Have to stay sane something."

"Still, that's really brave what you do," Mayumi said. "I don't think I could do that."

"Heh, don't sell yourself short," Asuka said. "I mean, look at Shinji. Who would have thought he'd turn into a hotshot pilot?"

"I think you're the only one that could be called a hotshot," Shinji muttered not at all discretely.

Asuka shot him a glare and Mayumi winced. But the glare turned into an amused smile and the other girl found herself even more fascinated with the group dynamics at play. It was fairly obvious Hikari and Toji were an item but Shinji's relations with the other two girls was more ambiguous. As fellow pilots they obviously cared for each other since they relied on each other in battle. But were they more than that? Friends certainly, in their own strange way. But more than friends? Mayumi was not sure. She had also been invited on this outing and she was fairly certain Shinji had not done it to impress her or anything, the boy genuinely wanted her to have a good time. What then did that make her to him?

"Still, it feels nice to help others," Shinji said. "I mean, isn't that why we pilot the EVAs? For other people?"

Mayumi smiled at the further confirmation of her judgment of Shinji's character. Rei said nothing and Asuka seemed somewhat taken aback at first. She recovered quickly however.

"I don't know who's been filling your head with nonsense Third, but I pilot EVA for myself," Asuka said, pointing at herself with her thumb.

"Oh, right."

"What's that supposed to mean, oh right?"

Shinji laughed nervously, somehow feeling that it would be a really bad idea to share with Asuka what Amanda had told him. One thing he had not needed any help picking up on was the redhead's absolute hate of showing weaknesses. What could he distract her with? Oh, right.

"Umm, I actually just remembered about the school trip," Shinji said. "That's what I meant. We're supposed to be going scuba diving in the Okinawa restored zone."

The beady look Asuka gave him was all he needed to know she did not buy a single word of his but fortunately the redhead decided to have mercy.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Umm, I was just wondering if you had everything you needed for it? You did just move places recently."

"Hmm, that's a good point," Asuka said thoughtfully. "I haven't gone swimming for a while and I'm not sure any of my swimsuits fit anymore."

Alarm bells began ringing in Shinji's head. "Umm, but wouldn't the school swimsuit be just…"

The look Asuka gave him quickly convinced him it would be better to not finish that sentence.

"Baka, no way am I going on this trip with that old thing. I'll need something new and in season. Hmm, but it is somewhat short notice." Asuka called forward. "Kaji! Can you take me shopping on Monday?"

The older man turned around. "Sorry Asuka, Amanda is running me ragged during the week looking into the, incident with her husband."

Despite her obvious disappointment not even Asuka was going to ask Kaji to drop that. Instead she shifted her focus.

"Hey First, you got any new swimsuits?"

Rei shook her head.

"Okay, that settles it. On Monday we're going swimsuit shopping! You're coming too Third, we'll need someone to carry our bags."

Mayumi squeaked. Shinji's reaction was more vocal.

"Wait, what?"

"What, you gonna complain?" Asuka dared him. "Most guys would kill for a chance to go swimsuit shopping with a pair of beauties like us. Don't tell me you're going to chicken out? Or maybe you swing the other way?"

"Of course not!" Shinji protested, though to which not even he was quite sure of.

"Then it's settled! Monday after school you're coming with us. You don't have any plans right First?"

"There are no conflicting appointments."

"Good! Look forward to it you two, cause I most definitely am!"

With that Asuka skipped cheerfully over to another tank, somehow naming all of the fishes in it by their scientific names. Mayumi and Shinji were still trying to figure out what had just happened and barely had any mental capacity left to wonder at the girl's encyclopedic knowledge of marine life. Neither noticed the species labels posted on each tank.

* * *

Lunchtime came soon enough and the kids left the quarantined zone. For obvious reasons food could not be brought through decontamination. The group staked a spot in one of the publicly accessible aquariums, settling down on the blankets that Hikari had thoughtfully brought along. More than one person noted that Mayumi immediately drifted over to Shinji's side. Almost unnoticed Rei took the opposite side, leaving Asuka with a somewhat dissatisfied look on her face.

"Ah to be young again," Kaji joked.

A mixture of blushes and flushes was the response though at least one boy present simply sighed. The two younger girls looked on obliviously before clamoring for the food. Hikari and Shinji immediately latched onto the distraction and began distributing bentos.

"Damn Shinji, you're getting better and better," Toji praised his friend. "Uh I mean, you've still got a long ways to go before you catch up with the class rep, but you're getting there!"

"You don't need to try that hard," Hikari said though she did smile. "Ikari-kun, perhaps sometimes we could trade some tips? The way you seasoned the meat is really impressive."

"It's a trick I learned from Reimer-san," Shinji said. "He's a really good cook."

"Reimer?" Toji said, perking up.

"Ah, he's a friend of Misato-san's from Germany," Shinji explained. "He's also Asuka's violin tutor."

"The Maestro's a world famous violinist," Asuka said proudly. "He's currently on contract with the Tokyo Philharmonic, though I doubt you'd pay any attention to the classical arts."

"Oh lay off," Toji said, apparently holding back due to his girlfriend's presence. "And for your information, I did know that Reimer Soren-san is a violinist."

The two pilots looked at the boy in surprise.

"Toji, you know Reimer-san?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, apparently he had an apartment in the same building as me. He was waiting for his wife when the attack happened and helped me get Sakura out."

"I never knew that," Shinji said. "Though that was really lucky he was there."

"I'll say," Toji said, ruffling his sister's hair in the process.

Sakura giggled before returning to offering PenPen tidbits from her box. An astute glutton, the penguin was never one to turn down free food, especially when it was so edible. That Nozomi quickly joined in was a major bonus for the bird.

"He's a chill guy too," Toji continued, "nothing fazes him, not even that hot and hotheaded wife of his."

Asuka had gone back to munching away her lunch and nearly spat out her mouthful at Toji's last statement. "You did not just say that about Amanda."

"What? I'm just saying it like I saw it!" the boy protested.

"Suzuhara," Hikari said reproachfully.

"Ah, I mean, I apologize for my disrespectful comment regarding Reimer-san's wife."

"Good idea stooge," Asuka said, "no need to give Amanda a reason to kick your ass."

"Did you meet Reimer-san through Asuka-san?" Hikari asked, preempting any further outbursts between her boyfriend and her best friend.

"Uh, actually no," Shinji said. "Amanda-san, Reimer-san's wife, works for the UN. She's an, auditor or something?"

"Auditor-general," Kaji filled in. "Amanda makes sure NERV is doing its job as efficiently as possible. If she thinks someone is slacking off, well, there are easier and less painful ways to lose your job."

"She sounds very dutiful," Hikari said approvingly, then looked over at the newest member of their little circle. "Are you having a good time Yamagishi-san?"

"Oh, yes! Umm, I don't think I've ever seen this many animals before, except maybe on one of those documentaries."

"To think that the world used to be filled with them," Hikari said. "It must have been beautiful."

"And the world will be again," Asuka stated confidently. "Once we finish kicking Angel ass we can all focus on restoring the planet back into the blue gem that she was before."

"Ooh, nicely said Asuka-san," Hikari applauded her friend.

Toji whistled. "Who'd'a thunk you were that good with words."

The smile Asuka cast at the boy was not pleasant in the least. "I'm also quite adept with my hands. Would you care for a demonstration?"

"That's enough now," Shinji intervened, "here, have some more. We've got plenty of food to go around."

After diffusing the latest skirmish Shinji presented the box to Mayumi.

"Did you want some more Mayumi-san?"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Mayumi assured him. "That was delicious, Shinji-kun. I'm really impressed."

"Well when I moved to Tokyo-3 it was either learn how to cook or subsist on takeout and readymade," Shinji said. "The latter didn't seem very healthy."

"It's not," Mayumi agreed. "It may seem cheap, but that's because they cut a lot of corners and don't put much actual nutrients in the food."

"Right, and if you know what you're doing you can make much better meals yourself for even less," Hikari joined in. "Do you cook often Yamagishi-san?"

Mayumi nodded. "I often help in the kitchen at home. It's nice to cook for a lot of people."

"I think so too," Hikari said. "Hmm, perhaps you, Ikari-kun, and I could meet up sometime and try out some things?"

"That would be nice," Mayumi said and smiled. "Thank you."

"It's nothing," Hikari said. "You're a friend of Ikari-kun and that makes you our friend as well. Right Suzuhara?"

"Of course!" the boy immediately agreed. "And you've gotta be a better influence for Shinji than the aku-I mean Asuka there."

Kensuke snickered while an eyebrow rose on Asuka's face as Hikari shot her boyfriend another reproachful look. The jock however seemed ready to weather whatever physical trauma the redhead was preparing to inflict upon him as if to prove his point. The problem with that tactic however was that while Asuka was capable and certainly willing to resort to physical means of expressing her displeasure such methods were by no means her only recourse. Asuka did not graduate from university at a ridiculously young age without being able to think outside the box after all.

"Hikari," Asuka said. "What were you planning on making for the jock's lunch next week?"

"Huh? Nothing special, just the usual stuff," the girl responded in mild confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I thought since he seems so obliging to suffer physical punishment, you could use him to test out new recipes that you aren't quite sure of."

Toji made a choking sound while his girlfriend smiled in comprehension.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea," Hikari said before turning to her boyfriend and giving him a sweet, sweet smile. "Well Suzuhara, you think you're up to helping me improve my cooking?"

Holding up his hands in resignation, Toji sighed. "I'll be good."

"I never doubted it."

"Umm, I hope you had a good time today, Mayumi-san," Shinji said as they arrived at the girl's residence.

"It was fun," Mayumi assured him. "Thank you for inviting me, I don't think I would have ever had a chance to see anything like that otherwise."

Shinji smiled. "I'll make sure to get you copies of the photos after Kensuke gets them developed."

"I appreciate that." Mayumi clasped her hands before her. "Umm, Shinji-kun, are you, maybe free the upcoming Wednesday?"

Shinji thought it over. The class left for the school trip on Friday so he likely would need to get everything ready by Thursday night but otherwise he could not think of any previous commitments.

"I should be," Shinji said.

"Umm, the Tokyo-3 Third Municipal Library is holding a mini book festival Wednesday," Mayumi said. "I was thinking of going there after school. Would you, like to accompany me?"

Through some force of will Mayumi had managed to say all of that while looking Shinji in the eye. Her face on the other hand looked like she was about to pass out from asphyxiation.

"O-of course," Shinji quickly replied. "Umm, I'd love to accompany you."

Mayumi sighed, relaxing considerably. "I-I'm glad."

"Umm, so, should I come pick you up here or should we meet someplace?"

"Oh uh, we could meet at the library, no, wait, the library's big, we might not be able to find each other, umm, yeah, h-here should still work," Mayumi stuttered.

"Alright. I'll see you then, Mayumi-san," Shinji said with a smile. "Or maybe even before then."

"See you soon, Shinji-kun." The smile Mayumi returned was even brighter.

End of Chapter 8

Welcome to the end of the longest chapter I've written so far. A little over ten thousand words. I had not intended it to end up this long, but I ended up writing myself into a slight trap. Specifically, there were scenes that I wanted to get in but with everything that is going on I needed to dump so much content into those scenes that the word count just got really inflated. And even so I'm definitely not giving enough screen time to a few tertiary characters. That has the consequence of making them almost indistinguishable from the background, and if that happens, then what was the point of me adding them into the scene in the first place? A tricky problem to work around. Next chapter is almost as long but the others start tapering off to the regular length after that, though they may suffer from inflation as I revise and edit. Chapter 11 isn't even done yet, it's missing a couple of scenes, and there are already points that I want to go back and tweak. And due to sequencing reasons I really cannot break it into two chapters. We'll see if that one balloons really badly as well.

Another problem that is cropping up is that there are so many concurrent threads of plot going on that I need to make sure to remember to add appropriate scenes to advance all of them in each chapter. Rei is again being tricky, I'm not quite sure if I'm getting her development right, though again I say this having the advantage of having about four more chapters in front of me and wondering where I should be sliding in references to the girl. The main problem being that the way the current plot is developing, I'm having trouble finding a place to slot such scenes into. Why that's the case, I think at least some of you can/have already guessed.

A bit of explanation for one of the dialogue up there. Toji starts referring to Asuka as aku-something. This is one instance where I'm breaking with my "stick to English" rule because the wordplay doesn't work in English. What Toji was about to say was akuma, or demon/devil. Now Asuka and akuma are not exactly homophones, but there is enough similarity that native speakers would pick up on the likely intent, and I thought it was an amusing enough aside to inject a little bilingual bonus in.

I may adjust the dialogue of the last scene a bit sometime in the future, I don't think the start of Asuka's rant had enough innuendos in it.

The wall of Jericho and the thermal expansion references are somewhat classic in the EVA universe. I knew that I wanted to get at least the former in, since it's such an intrinsic part of Asuka's sense of self-worth and insecurities. The main problem we have of course is that Shinji does not understand Asuka enough to realize this, and so he needs help to push him along that path. Hence Soren and Kaji. And the thermal expansion one, well, I was severely tempted to drop it and use something else, but then I thought I would flip it around and have Rei be the other party in that little conversation.

Maria Vincennes is not a sidestepper, she's a tertiary canon character from an EVA RPG. A sidestepper did get introduced in chapter 6, though a bit surprised people haven't reacted stronger to the implications, but no new ones were introduced in chapter 7. Anyway, one more chapter before a couple of major developments and a few mysteries regarding the sidesteppers get clarified, including their, ahem, big ace. And of course continue the bonding that we see here. Which sets us up for something, big, in chapters 11 and 12. And for which my readers may want to crucify me over.

Z98


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Seria

"Auditor-General Sommer. You have been a most disruptive influence."

No warning and no preamble. If Gendo Ikari had anything going for him it was his bluntness and complete disregard for tact. After a career working around pussyfooting politicians and bureaucrats Amanda found it almost refreshing. A shame the man himself was a slime ball and an asshole.

"Complacency is a sin we cannot afford," Amanda replied.

The summons to Ikari's office had been sudden but not unexpected. It was only a matter of time before the commander sought to rein Amanda in after his return after all. A man in his position could ill afford to be constantly undermined by the auditor, especially considering the respective interests they each pursued.

"My understanding of your position is that you serve an advisory role, suggesting changes to help improve the efficiency of operations here. Final decision are however the purview of NERV's own chain of command."

"Subject to oversight by the UN Human Instrumentality Committee," Amanda countered. "In instances where the existing command structure is resistant to proposed changes and the auditor in question feels that this resistance is detrimental to the efficient operation of NERV, he or she may request that a directive be handed down by higher authority. I have however yet to need to pursue this course of action, seeing as you were absent when the original issue was brought to the command structure's attention and so a certain delay in a formal decision being rendered was reasonable."

One consequence of a lifetime of working with said bureaucrats and politicians was a large body of experience in how to pin them down and force them to make decisions. An equally effective alternative was to twist out of them a 'decision' that was so vague it could be used to justify whatever Amanda wanted. Gendo Ikari however had too specific of goals to fall into that trap.

"Guardianship of the First Child is not open to discussion," he stated, apparently deciding to take an obstinate path instead of playing politics. It was a surprisingly poor tactical choice for a man that had for so long played SEELE.

"It has not yet entered the discussion," Amanda retorted. "Unless you wish to give me cause to launch a formal inquiry into your suitability for association with any minor?"

The change was subtle but the anger was still visible in Ikari's visage. Amanda had to remind herself not to enjoy this too much.

"The First Child has certain duties that are paramount to Project E," Ikari said instead of vocalizing his irritation. "So long as you can demonstrate that these new housing arrangements will not interfere with those duties, I will not have reason to countermand them."

"Then we are agreed," Amanda said. "However, do keep in mind that NERV does not exist to serve your whim, Commander Ikari. Pilot Ayanami's suitability for anything beyond the committee's vision of Instrumentality is, not grounds for concern or note."

Ikari said nothing, merely tilting his head slightly to indicate acknowledgment of the point. Both knew there was no actual agreement however. Amanda took that as her dismissal and turned to leave when she came to a halt.

"An interesting choice, white gloves," she said.

Ikari's confusion turned into stunned motionless as the German woman gave him a sly smile. "The Prussian general staff once wore white gloves. That became a cause for revulsion to the rank and file who saw it as a sign that these officers were considered too important to actually dirty their hands with real work. I hope you will not face similar shortcomings, imagined or otherwise."

With that Amanda took her leave, leaving Ikari to chew over her words. At first the commander almost feared that SEELE's lapdog knew about his implantation of Adam. In hindsight however it was clear she was simply offering a parting shot, to warn him from being too complacent. Ikari allowed himself a slight smile. No matter what the UN auditor thought she might know, it was obvious that there were just as many things she remained ignorant of. All the better of course, that she never found out until it was too late. The smile grew wider. It was good to be underestimated.

Amanda exited Ikari's office with a slight spring to her step. She had known going in that the commander was not going to actually try and reverse the changes to Rei's accommodations, that would have been a bit too stupid and blatant even for him. He simply needed to reassert his dominance over the situation, as if some sinister posing and unsubtle threats might restore to him some of the initiative he had lost. There was no need to make Ikari too paranoid however and so Amanda left him with that little boost in confidence at the end. The commander was almost certain to interpret her offhand remark about the gloves as a sign of her ignorance, even if Adam's pulsing had precipitated a very pronounced headache in Amanda when she entered its presence. Still, images needed to be maintained and Ikari must never suspect anything until it was too late. The smile grew wider. It was good to be underestimated.

* * *

Asuka Langley Shikinami had been in a good mood since awakening. Not even the soul crushing lectures of the morning history class managed to erode her smile, a fact that further cemented Kensuke and Toji's belief in her demonic nature. Shinji however knew the truth seeing as how the redhead had been smiling even at breakfast. His reaction on the other hand was a proportionally growing horror as he contemplated just how much damage Asuka could accomplish with the several million yen in her bank account, never mind the several million more in Rei's. More specifically, how much damage would be inflicted upon him. The Second Child had had a late start with respect to the hazard based stipend provided to the EVA pilots but she still had built quite a reserve after nearly a decade at the much lower stipend grade of an inactive EVA pilot.

As school ended the trio of pilots bid their respective friends goodbye before making a quick stop at the apartment to drop off their schoolbags. Then it was onto the mall and Asuka's cheerfulness stepped up another level. Shinji on the other hand was at near panic levels as he was dragged to a swimsuit store.

"What's wrong Shinji, don't tell me you're going to chicken out now?" Asuka teased.

Shinji wondered momentarily whether the lack of honorifics was because despite her near flawless pronunciation and lack of accent Asuka was still a foreigner and was raised in a different social convention, or if she actually was indicating a desire to be that intimately close to him. He quickly decided that it was safer to assume the former.

"Of course not Asuka," Shinji replied, deciding that if the girl was not going to bother with honorifics with him he at least deserved that much leeway with her as well.

A raised eyebrow caused Shinji to start reconsidering just how far he could push but the smile that followed was reassuringly amused.

"C'mon Rei," Asuka said, calling the other girl by her name for the first time Shinji could recall.

Apparently when the redhead was happy she treated other people as if they were people was quickly becoming the running theory. Resigned to his fate Shinji Ikari passed the point of no return and stepped into the store. It was an open question whether he would emerge unbloodied. While the First Child seemed a bit lost in all of the options on display Asuka was most definitely in her element. She flitted about, feeling the fabric on this suit while eyeing another one critically. To Shinji's growing consternation everything Asuka had looked at were bikinis.

"Hmm, this one looks nicely daring, but I think this one feels more elegant."

Looking at the two swimsuits the redhead was currently holding up, Shinji blanched. In her left hand hung a red and white stripped bikini whose top was decorated with a giant zipper in the center. Provocative did not begin to cover it. In her right hand was an equally revealing black bikini, though the frills decorating it at least gave the illusion that it covered more skin.

"Don't just stand around there Rei," Asuka called over. "You need to pick something too."

"I am, unsure of what an appropriate selection would warrant," the other girl said.

Setting aside the two she had been looking at, Asuka walked over to where Rei stood amongst a large selection of one pieces.

"Hmm, I suppose for your first swimsuit something a bit less daring would be better," Asuka said thoughtfully. She then smiled and grabbed a few items off the rack. "Here, go try this."

Rei looked down at the items that were dropped into her hands and then looked back up at Asuka. With a sigh the redhead turned the other girl around and half pushed and half guided her towards the changing rooms. Along the way she grabbed a pair for herself and before disappearing into the back with Rei gave Shinji a warning glare.

"Don't you dare peek."

Shinji sighed. "Do you think that little of me? Or my desire to stay alive?"

Asuka seemed to seriously give it some thought before cracking a smile. "I suppose. But still, be a good boy and you'll get a treat."

With nothing better to do Shinji slumped down in one of the many benches sprinkled about the store. He did his best to just ignore all the other swimwear on offer as well as the few other customers that were sneaking him glances. Most were women though a few were accompanied by similarly suffering significant others. Only Shinji entered accompanied with two other girls however and that seemed enough to turn a few heads. If anything the looks of sympathy that came his way from the guys indicated they at least understood his predicament. The eyes of the women seemed a bit more judgmental. Damn double standards.

The Third Child fortunately did not have to wait much longer as Asuka emerged from the backrooms with a flourish while Rei followed more sedately. When Shinji caught sight of her his jaw simply dropped, much to the redhead's satisfaction.

"You like?" she teased.

Shinji's only reaction was to bob his head up and down, jaw still open. The swimsuit Asuka had selected was the same frilly black bikini she had been examining earlier and the skin it laid bare was enough to make the young man feel like melting. Thanks to the leotards used for their synchronization training Shinji was well aware that his fellow pilot had one hell of a figure. Even that glimpse however did not do true justice to Asuka's form. The girl was still developing but every part that Shinji could see was perfectly proportioned and despite Asuka's teasing the younger Ikari was well and truly straight in his orientation. As such his mind was busy both trying to admire the view and screaming that a single misstep would see Asuka murder him in his sleep, or even right here in this store.

"Of course you do," Asuka said with a satisfied smile.

She then stepped aside to give Shinji a clear view of Rei. The Third Child's jaw snapped shut as his brain completely locked up. The First Child's suit was a plain white one piece cut to a modest style. Asuka might well have been accused of intentionally choosing a more toned down swimsuit to undercut her competition, save for the colorfully stylish sheet she had wrapped around Rei's waist. The resulting effect pushed the impression from quietly reserved to demurely elegant and it took Shinji a few seconds to equate the Rei standing before him with the young woman that had literally walked around naked in front of him without a hint of modesty.

"Ayanami." Shinji's voice actually cracked, much to his embarrassment and Asuka's great amusement. "You look, umm, beautiful."

The First Child seemed taken aback at the compliment and the first hints of a blush emerged on her face. She then smiled gently.

"Thank you."

"What's this, you'll compliment Rei with words but I only get a nod?" Asuka teased.

"You look wonderful too Asuka," Shinji quickly responded. "Umm, both of you really, look, wonderful."

Asuka's smile now seemed genuinely happy as she twirled about. This simply caused Shinji's face to redden even further.

"Alright, we're just getting started," Asuka said. "C'mon Rei, I'm sure there's a couple other styles that'd work for you."

"You're, not done?" Shinji asked.

"Of course not! Whoever heard of buying just one pair of clothing when you go shopping? And after this we need to go get some real clothes. I've seen Rei's wardrobe, or lack thereof, and that will not stand or my name isn't Asuka Langley Shikinami!"

With that Asuka grabbed a few more swimsuits and hauled a confused Rei back to the changing rooms. Shinji was left wondering just how much blood he would lose before this painfully pleasurable torture would end. He idly wondered if any of the older women he knew put their significant others through this kind of torment.

* * *

"Captain Sommer," Aoba's voice interrupted Amanda's musing. "There's a video call for you from NERV-Berlin. It's tagged private."

"Thank you lieutenant," Amanda said, rising from her reclined pose and straightening her uniform. "I'll take it on my office line."

"Yes ma'am."

Amanda brought up the teleconferencing application and waited for the other side to connect. A few seconds later she was facing a middle aged man that in some ways was all too familiar.

"Captain Sommer."

"Dr. Langley, this is a surprise. How can I help you?"

"Actually, I'm calling about my daughter, Asuka."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Langley said sheepishly. "I had wanted to call earlier, but Asuka was apparently in the middle of some sort of training regimen and I was told it would be best that I not interrupt it."

Amanda nodded in understanding. "There were some genuine concerns about distracting Asuka."

"So I was told. But, well, my daughter's now been in battle twice and all I've really been able to get is some third hand status report."

"You know, you could call your daughter directly," Amanda pointed out, perhaps a bit cruelly.

Langley's face stiffened but he shook his head sadly. "I'm not sure she'd want to speak with me. I'm, still not sure she's forgiven me, no matter how politely she may have behaved at home."

In another time and place Wilhelm Langley would have been right on the mark about his daughter's resentment. In fact he was still right, though the man was apparently not aware of the gradual thawing of his daughter's feelings. Asuka still did not know the full circumstances behind her father's sudden remarriage after her mother's death but as an adult Amanda had a much clearer picture of what had happened.

The simple reality had been that the elder Langley really did love his wife and her descent into insanity had torn him apart. In his despair entered one of Kyoko's attending physicians, a woman that meant well but was as swept away by the same events as Wilhelm himself. To the little girl desperately seeking affirmation from her mother, it looked like a betrayal of the highest order. To others, it was a minor miracle of love that emerged from the greater tragedy. That Wilhelm was losing touch with his last connection to Kyoko as a result had eaten at the man for the last decade, a situation Amanda was not proud of.

"Dr. Langley, may I be frank?"

"Of course," Wilhelm said. "You and your husband have been there much more for Asuka than I have. Sometimes I think she would prefer to have you as her family."

"While I appreciate the sentiment doctor, allow me to begin my frankness by saying that that is not true. Tell me, have you actually ever told Asuka about the circumstances of your relationship with Dr. Blake?"

"I, well I uh…"

"What I thought. The simple truth is doctor, you are running away from Asuka as much as she has been running away from you."

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two before Amanda broke it with a gentle smile.

"You love your daughter, Dr. Langley, no one at NERV doubts that. Asuka also wants to be loved by you, but she cannot reconcile her memories of your actions with her desires. And if you keep running away from Asuka, the two of you will never meet."

Wilhelm swallowed. "I suppose I was asking for that, wasn't I? But, and I will be equally frank captain, I simply do not know how to approach Asuka at this point. She's grown up so much she, well, sometimes she even reminds me of Kyoko."

This, was getting harder than Amanda thought it would be. She had not actually been expecting to have this conversation, or at least not this soon. But apparently the changes effected by herself and Soren were now rippling through to their natural consequences. God knew that Shinji had reacted even more strongly to less interference over an even shorter period of time. But guiding Shinji along a better path was much easier since that was a matter of healing someone else's scars. Dealing with Wilhelm Langley was far, far more personal.

"Dr. Langley, do you know of Commander Gendo Ikari?"

Wilhelm frowned. "The commander of NERV-Tokyo? Yes, of course."

"And are you aware of his, limited interactions with his son?"

The frown turned into a hard grimace. "Yes."

"Then I think you understand one potential consequence of not reaching out to your child. Asuka won't wait forever. You love your daughter. You need to make sure she knows that."

"Yes, yes I suppose I do," Wilhelm said. He seemed show exhausted and yet more alive. To say a weight had been lifted from his shoulders might be overly dramatic but Wilhelm certainly looked like a great burden was gone. "Thank you for your frankness, Captain Sommer. I suppose I really did need for someone to tell me that."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "You mean my husband never told you this before?"

Wilhelm smiled sheepishly. "Back then, I may not have believed him. It didn't seem possible that he could have gotten to know my daughter so well in so short a time. Or perhaps I just did not want to believe that I was such a failure as a father that a complete stranger could understand Asuka better than me."

Amanda offered the man a comforting smile. "So you will talk to her?"

This time the nod was firm. "Yes. I'll see about calling sometime later today."

"Good." A thought then occurred to Amanda. "Wait, you may want to hold off until tomorrow."

"Oh? Why?"

"If my memory is not failing me," Amanda said, "today is when Captain Katsuragi is going to inform Asuka that she can't go on the school trip. She, may not be in the best of moods right after that."

Wilhelm stared blankly from the screen for a few moments before bursting out in laughter.

"I see, I see," he managed to get out after regaining control of himself. "Tomorrow then. Hopefully I do not lose my nerve in between."

I sincerely hope not, Amanda thought. She still had plans for Dr. Langley after all.

* * *

The name on the badge said M. Iver. Most of her colleagues called her Maggie and it was also what the woman herself used whenever she needed to sign for anything. At the same time there was a fairly simple rule regarding her name. If you were someone that she respected or liked, she would eventually suggest you call her Maggie. If you remained stuck calling her Mackenzie, most people agreed that you had done something to offend the normally good natured, understanding, and kind scientist. Most people went out of their way to avoid that particular fate. None of the people in the conference room that Maggie entered had made any such missteps.

"Good morning everyone," Maggie greeted.

A chorus of responses came back, mixing her nickname, academic title, and last name amongst them. No one was crass enough to refer to her by her position of commander. Maggie took her seat at the head of the table and smiled at the gathered men and women. All were brilliant in their own ways and each had their own little idiosyncrasies. Maggie herself was as guilty of that as anyone else and she would have had it no other way.

"Alright, let's keep this brief," Maggie began the meeting. "I hear that we have some good news about the Fifth Angel?"

The researcher to Maggie's immediate right nodded. "We've finished our analysis of Ramiel's body and it is as we surmised, the cells, for the lack of a better word, when properly tuned are actually a room temperature superconductive material."

Excited murmurs spread around the table.

"So far no one at NERV seems to have noticed this particular property and our reports indicate that they'll probably be ending analysis of the Fifth Angel within the next week or so. After that they'll be focusing on disposing of the body." The scientist glanced over at a man on the other side of the table. "I understand that we are already positioned to claim the pieces as they get shipped out?"

The man nodded.

"Good, I'd hate to see all of that material go to waste."

"The question now is can we incorporate it into the Ark on such short notice," another woman said.

"We did plan for this possibility," Maggie said. "A good thirty percent of the energy distribution system was left for installation later just in case. Assuming the proposed method of aligning and configuring the cells works and they can deliver the cells to us quickly enough, we should still hit our deadline."

"The results have been promising," the first woman said. "Of course actually using the techniques outside of a laboratory environment will always turn up new challenges, but I expect us to still be ready to launch within the next few months."

"The crew won't be able to get much on hands training time," the man at the other end of the table pointed out.

"That was always going to be a problem," Maggie said. "Maintaining absolute secrecy means limited opportunities for training runs. Even out here we cannot just take the Ark out for a quick spin."

The man conceded the point with a nod but he was obviously still unhappy about that limitation. For that matter so was Maggie but reality had its own demands.

"Do we expect any actual problems with delivery of the cells?" Maggie asked.

"Not at this point," another man answered. "The cells are remarkably light and we can pack them quite tightly. For all its size, the Fifth Angel did not actually weigh that much. We can probably sneak most of it aboard the resupply runs, assuming we're willing to forego a few other items."

"Such as?"

"Well, the easiest thing to swap out would be the food. It'll suck being stuck on basic rations for a couple of months, but it won't kill us."

The grimaces and groans told the man the others did not quite agree with that assessment. Even Maggie looked mildly askance at that sacrifice.

"Probably," the man allowed with a slight smile. "I'll check inventory and see what slack we have that we can fudge not getting spares or equipment for."

"Please do what you can," Maggie said. "If we can stay within tolerances and not compromise morale too much, that would help."

"Of course doctor."

That earned the man Maggie's trademark smile before she moved onto other topics. "Captain Suvorov, lack of hands on time aside, how goes the training of your crew?"

The man at the other end of the table, Timofey Suvorov, chuckled. "Well enough, doctor. They are quite eager to show off their skills and have been practicing constantly. They especially like the new toys you and your fine staff have been coming up with these past few months."

"That is good to hear," Maggie said. "We were a bit concerned that some of the more exotic pieces of equipment would not make it in time, but the results from examination of actual Angels has proven most productive."

"One day of battle is worth a hundred days of training," Timofey said and then smiled. "Yet a hundred days of training might make all the difference for a single moment in battle."

Maggie returned the smile and nodded as she moved along the agenda once more. "As all of you know, we've been doing comparison studies between the S2 engine the Third Branch is attempting to restore from the partially destroyed organ from the Fourth Angel and our own more complete design. Based on our available information, we believe that we know what the flaws are in the design that will eventually be installed in Unit 04."

The scientist now had the rapt attention of everyone in the room.

"As we all know, there is a fine balance between the boundary of the Dirac Sea that the engine draws energy from and our own physical reality. Attempt to draw too much energy from the Sea and that boundary destabilizes, resulting in a chain reaction that transforms the area surrounding the engine into negative energy. Based on the numbers the Third Branch's simulations have generated, it is becoming increasingly obvious that they have miscalculated the safe ratio of matter-energy transfer. The prototype S2 engine that the Second Branch will attempt to use for Unit 04 will thus fail due to the destabilized boundary and transform its surrounding area into a Dirac Sea."

The gathered men and women grimaced at that conclusion. Maggie had however not finished delivering all the bad news.

"I know there is still some disagreement about letting the Third Branch continue on their current course, but any assistance that we provide will ultimately only accelerate SEELE's own efforts and more importantly risk tipping our hand. Remember, though Tabgha Base is responsible for the construction of Unit 06 we are not supposed to be actively involved in S2 organ research. As it is, it is looking increasingly unlikely that we can avert the destruction of the Second Branch. I'm sorry."

The unease and unhappiness was more pronounced this time around but the acceptance was more resigned. The primary goal all of them shared was the prevention of Third Impact after all and nothing could compromise that, no matter the sacrifices that entailed.

"Is the deployment of Unit 06 still on schedule?" a technician asked, as much to interrupt the current mood as to get an actual answer.

"It appears to be," Maggie said, grimacing now for a completely different reason. "The control system was installed without any major complication and the restraints are scheduled for completion within the next month. When the time comes, it'll be ready."

Or it damn well better be was the unspoken statement. It would be rather embarrassing if in the process of trying to stop one Third Impact they accidentally allowed another to initiate prematurely. They had already had that close call with the Fifth Angel after all. But possession of the Spear of Cassius provided them with a safeguard against that inevitability, even if its deliverer was one of the damn things that had initiated Second Impact. A compromise, but life was full of them and if they pulled this off the threat of Instrumentality would be lifted forever from mankind.

The meeting continued for a bit longer as more mundane matters were dealt with. Once concluded, the various attendees pushed off their chairs and floated towards the exit. Seeing as a lower gravity was one of the few perks in what was effectively the backend of nowhere, they might as well enjoy it as much as they could.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T GO!?"

Misato unplugged her ears as the ringing stopped while Shinji somehow remained unperturbed by the redhead's explosion. Perhaps his adaptability was even higher than Misato thought and he was already inured to Asuka's temperament.

"As EVA pilots the three of you have to remain on constant standby," Misato said. "What are we supposed to do if the next Angel shows up and you're all out of town? It'd look mighty stupid if the world ended while you were on vacation, don't you think?"

"You mean we're stuck in this city forever!?" Asuka demanded.

"Only until the Angels are defeated."

"And who's the genius that came up with this stupid policy?"

"Well as operations chief of NERV, that would be me."

The redhead bluster lost a bit of its vehemence. Just a bit however. And it was not so much as lost as redirected.

"What are you doing there just drinking tea, Third!?" Asuka screamed. "Don't you have anything to say about this!?"

Having expected that Shinji managed not to wince. It did not make Asuka's shouting any easier to bear, though she did have a point.

"This is kind of unfair Misato-san," Shinji said. "Couldn't we do some sort of rotation or something? Each of us get a day down in Okinawa and the other two remain on standby? I'm pretty sure NERV has the budget to ferry us back and forth for this."

"Yeah!" The idea might not have been hers but Asuka was prepared to latch onto anything that allowed her to go on the trip.

"Sorry Shinji-kun, but with only three operational EVAs we just don't have the redundancy to rotate like that. Two of the last three Angels required two EVAs to engage and defeat and if I let one of you go we'd be operating at a bare minimum of readiness and in a military situation that is never done unless we have absolutely no choice."

Asuka slammed her hands down on the table. "Damn it, what's keeping four-eyes anyway!?"

Shinji looked over at the girl in confusion. "Four-eyes?"

"Mari Illustrious Makinami," Misato reminded Shinji, "the other pilot that was assigned to NERV-Berlin. And as for what's keeping her, well Unit 05's been giving the Third Branch more trouble than they expected so it's not fully operational yet. Once it's ready it and Mari will join us here in Tokyo-3 and we'll have four EVA units."

The Third Child nodded in understanding. Asuka of course was nowhere near placated.

"This still sucks!"

"You'll just have to live with it. And look at it this way, the break you'll get from school will let you two start pulling up your grades."

Both pilots froze and looked at Misato.

"Did you really think I wouldn't see your report cards?" Misato said with a grin. "As your guardian all of your school documents get forwarded to me, you know."

Shinji laughed nervously even as Asuka huffed.

"Why do I even need to go to school anyway? I already have a master's degree!"

"Maybe so, but going to a school with kids your age is still an important experience. And besides, shouldn't you be breezing through the schoolwork?"

"Asuka has trouble with the kanji," Shinji reminded Misato.

The redhead shot the boy a death glare while Misato let out a short burst of laughter.

"Well, I guess that gives you something to work on," she said. "Anyway, you two might as well make the best of it."

"This sucks," Asuka said. "Why do we need to wait around for the Angels? Why aren't we going to where they are and kicking their asses?"

"Trust me, if we knew where the Angels were coming from you'd be on a jet, boat, or train on your way to do just that," Misato assured the girl. "But we don't know where they're coming from so for now we're stuck on the defensive. Sorry Asuka, but that's just the way things are right now."

Asuka cast one last glare at her ostensible guardian before standing and rushing off. The door slammed behind her as she left for her own apartment.

"Well that went remarkably well," Misato said dryly as she took another sip of her beer.

"Still, I can see where Asuka's coming from," Shinji said. "Our lives seem to revolve around just the EVAs and Angels. Is this really any way to live?"

Misato gave Shinji a thoughtful look before setting down the beer can. "You may be right about that Shinji-kun, and I really am sorry that the three of you can't go on the trip. Especially seeing as Asuka probably really wanted to show off that new swimsuit she dragged you out with her to buy."

The boy blushed slightly at the reminder of the previous afternoon and Misato allowed her a slight smile of amusement. Her face quickly reverted to its serious manner however.

"What I said before still holds however. Like it or not we are at war with the Angels and it's a war that will be fought to the bitter end. One side will die and if making sure that it isn't us ends up costing Asuka a chance to go scuba diving in Okinawa, well, I'm afraid it's a small price in the grand scheme of things." The smile returned, this one gentler. "Besides, I'll have all the time in the world to make it up to her after we win this war."

"I suppose," Shinji said, obviously as unhappy with the circumstances but less prepared to vocalize it than Asuka. "But, it feels a little wrong. Aren't we basically turning into child soldiers?"

Of all the comments Shinji might have made that was one Misato had not expected here and now. Even had she not been taken completely by surprise however it still would have stung.

"I, can't deny that," Misato admitted. "In some ways us sending you into battle against the Angels is really no different than some warlord arming kids and sending them out to fight other people. We might try to justify it with the threat to the entire species that the Angels represent, but that's a slippery slope. There will be a world after the defeat of the Angels and it's already pretty obvious that the Evangelions represent a major advancement in warfighting technology. There will almost certainly be people who will want to exploit it for mere geopolitical ends."

Shinji's eyes widened but Misato reached out and placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, there are people like Amanda and, well, Kaji even, who will be working very hard to make sure that doesn't happen. Me too for that matter."

Shinji smiled slightly. "Thank you, Misato-san."

"Hey, it's the least we can do. You're fighting for all of us right now after all. We can at least fight for you when the time comes."

* * *

"You were right, that was a rabbit's hole," Kaji said as he slid into a seat in Amanda's office. "The police have seized so many weapons it's not even funny."

Amanda chuckled as she turned to face her friend. "I suppose it's a good thing you volunteered to look into it."

Kaji flashed his trademark smile at his UN counterpart. "I am of course at your service. Though seriously, it's rather depressing how many guns are circulating in the country. If it isn't the yakuza it's bandits that still haven't been brought to heel. Humanity reverts to barbarism quite easily."

"So does that mean you didn't find anything?" Amanda asked.

"Actually, I did find something," Kaji said. "The report was from about five years ago, a yakuza cell was found with all its members dead. The police that investigated found a handful of guns as well as indications that a firefight had occurred, but no sign of anyone actually getting hurt by bullet fire."

"And? I presume guns that fire the same caliber as what Section-2 uses were amongst the firearms recovered?"

"Actually no," Kaji said. "That's the thing, the report had a list of guns and none of them used that caliber."

Amanda leaned forth. "Oh? I don't suppose the yakuza had a list of the weapons they had?"

"No such luck," Kaji said, "but there were definitely weapons missing. In fact, some of the recovered bullets do match the caliber in question."

Now her eyes narrowed. "Five years ago. Did Section-2 ever do a weapon change in between?"

Kaji shook his head. "I already checked that. According to Aramaki they've used the same type of pistols since NERV was founded. It's not like there's been any major breakthrough in small arms technology in the last couple of decades."

"True enough. So we have confirmed missing weapons, or at least such weapons were used at the scene, despite said weapons not causing the deaths of the criminals. How did they die anyway?"

"Physical trauma of one sort or another," Kaji said. "There were broken necks, bashed in skulls, quite a few fractured ribs and the like. Those guys did not die cleanly, that much is clear from the report."

"Interesting," said Amanda. "That's a very different approach than what the hitman took with Soren."

"Maybe so, but Soren's probably a lot better at hand-to-hand than a bunch of gangsters. The perp might not have wanted to get close enough to let Soren get his hands on her."

"Not sure I buy that, but the incident is certainly anomalous," Amanda said. "The question now is, is it a false positive or do you have something beyond your intuition, no matter its reputation, that leads you to believe this is related?"

"You've got me there," Kaji admitted. "To be honest the attempt on Soren is just plain weird. If your hitman, or someone associated, could have worked over a yakuza outfit like that, then why was the hit on Soren so sloppy? Why did she retreat so quickly? The two cases don't line up at all."

"Now that's a thought," Amanda said. "If you wanted to take out a yakuza cell you had the physical ability to do what the report says, would you have let them take a shot at you with their guns?"

Kaji frowned. "Huh, you might have a point there. Are you suggesting that this person, whoever she is, is an amateur?"

"Or just extremely sloppy," Amanda said. "Well, even if it's completely unrelated this case did get us to think about the hit from a new angle."

"So long as we don't end up overthinking the issue," Kaji said. "That's a rather dangerous trap us analysts can fall into."

"Duly noted. Well, until we can turn up some hard intelligence we're on the defensive so we might as well focus on more immediate concerns."

"I have no objection to that."

"So how was the trip to the marine preserve?" Amanda asked, leaning back again. "I hope the pilots were able to unwind and relax a bit?"

The grin was back. "You could say that. Shinji-kun brought along a rather unexpected friend."

An eyebrow rose. "Oh?"

"A girl by the name of Yamagishi Mayumi."

The eyebrow stayed up. "You're kidding."

"Nope. I'd never even heard of her and based off of the reactions of the others, it was their first time meeting her as well. Whoever she is, she met Shinji completely outside his normal social circle."

"Section-2 should have at least noticed that," Amanda said, bringing up the reports on her computer.

"Poor kid doesn't even get to flirt privately," Kaji said.

"Privacy is an illusion for someone as important as an EVA pilot," Amanda said as she pulled up the report from the preserve visit.

Sure enough, there were cross references for the one name she did not immediately recognize. Her eyes narrowed. The number of hits in the Section-2 reports was making it very clear that Shinji's contact with this Yamagishi was not incidental. Now why in the world had Aramaki not brought this to her attention? Amanda ground her teeth. It looked like she had one more reason to beat his ass on the dojo floor-Amanda's thought chopped off half-formed. She looked at the name again.

"Oh Scheiße!"

* * *

When Soren arrived to pick up his wife she got in without any preamble.

"We need to talk."

The violinist nodded and without any response of his own drove out of the NERV parking lot and made for the outskirts of the city. Their respective security detachment maintained a respectful distance and once beyond the city limits the lack of other people allowed Soren to easily confirm that only they and their guards were around. The Section-2 operatives had been handpicked by Aramaki as well so there was no need to worry about them trying to listen in and once the two parked the car and left it behind to wander into the fields the chances of anyone eavesdropping essentially vanished. The interesting point for Soren however was that his wife had chosen this roundabout way to hold a private conversation. Whatever she wanted to say, she wanted him to hear it first before it filtered down to the rest of the collective.

"We have a big problem," Amanda finally said once they were a few hundred meters from the car.

"How big a problem?"

"Does the name Mayumi Yamagishi ring any bells?"

Soren thought it over for a few seconds before starting to shake his head. Then he too froze.

"Oh. Shit."

"Indeed," Amanda said, no trace of humor in her tone. "We never planned for her involvement in the scenario. Hell, by all rights she shouldn't even exist!"

"Is there any synchronicity between the two verses?"

Amanda nodded. "The dominant chords all resonate."

This time Soren grimaced. "And she's made contact with Shinji?"

"Yes. In fact, Shinji invited her to the outing at the marine preserve."

"Ah." Apparently when it rained it poured. "How much time do we have?"

"A week or two, three tops," Amanda said. "Damn it, we're losing control!"

"I doubt we had anywhere as much control as we would have liked," Soren said dryly. "At a macro level perhaps, but at a human level? All the careful planning in the world is not going to save us from Murphy."

"I don't need you to philosophize," Amanda snapped. "What I need are ideas for how to keep things from getting completely derailed!"

Nonplussed by his wife's tone, Soren walked over and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Don't you mean to keep us from getting derailed?"

Amanda stiffened at the sudden contact but closed her eyes and breathed. Slowly her body relaxed and she allowed herself to sink into Soren's embrace.

"Sorry," she finally said. "And yes, I mean us."

His wife calmed, Soren gave her a squeeze and released her. "The problem may be worse than you think. We both know how this variant turns out and there is literally nothing that we can do to prevent it. This has the real risk of breaking Shinji."

Amanda winced, reminded that as much as she was concerned about one set of potentialities there were deeper issues at play. Issues that revolved painfully around the will to life.

"We're not going to be able to save her, are we?"

"No," Soren said, his voice as unhappy as it ever really got.

"Damn it, the whole point of this was to try to save as many people as possible."

"But we knew going in that we would not be able to save everyone. Remember, we've already written off the entire Second Branch."

The woman's shoulder slumped and Soren wondered if he would need to take hold of her again, if only to keep her from collapsing. As strong as Amanda was there was still a weathered core that had seen and experienced much suffering. While Soren did not doubt that his wife could withstand any hardship, he had no desire for her to pay the cost in pain that new hardships entailed.

"I guess it really is true," Amanda said sadly. "It's harder to actually feel for the death of the masses compared to an individual death close to you."

"You could just quote Stalin and be done with it."

Amanda snorted. "No way am I quoting that mass murderer."

"I suppose you have more recent mass murderers that you can quote," Soren said. "Myself included."

This time Amanda glared at her husband. "Don't even start."

"Responsibility is not something that we can run away from," Soren said. "Trying to absolve ourselves of our sins is just a path to self-destruction. If we want to continue living, we cannot forget our past but we must also not let it rule us. An interesting conundrum, no?"

"And there you get philosophical again," Amanda said with a sigh. "God, I hope Shinji's strong enough to get through this."

"That does sum up our problem," Soren said. "By himself, I would say the chance is maybe 10% if we're being generous."

"Oh? How self-deprecating."

"I am a realist. At the same time Shinji has quite a few friends now. Combined with his growing closeness to Asuka and Rei, he just might pull through. Or rather the others will pull him through it whether he likes it or not."

"Odds?"

Soren pursed his lips. "Fifty-fifty. We could tip it a bit if we intervene directly, but we'll have to assess whether we can do it without causing everything else to collapse on us."

"Wow this sucks," Amanda said in exasperation. "How in the world did we screw up this badly?"

"We'll have to sift through the timeline, trace Mayumi's point of synchronicity. That'll take a bit of time." Soren grimaced. "Midori is not going to like this."

Amanda tilted her head to the side. "What about her?"

"Remember the conditions for the Kirishima scenario?"

"Oh damn," Amanda muttered. "If Shinji loses it the JSSDF's likely to scrap that entire plan, which leaves Kirishima hanging."

"My thoughts exactly," Soren said. "While we may be unable to help Mayumi, Mana is another matter entirely. We need a vector to extract her."

"Got any bright ideas?" Amanda asked. "I don't think we have anyone positioned that can both influence that decision and that we can let get sacked when the thing inevitably blows up."

"No, we'll have to approach this from a different angle." Soren regarded his wife. "Feel like pissing off the JSSDF some more?"

For the first time since this conversation started Amanda smiled. "Need you even ask?"

"What I thought." Soren's own smile was far less playful. "In that case I do have an idea."

After he finished explaining it Amanda literally tackled her husband and the two toppled into the grass. When they emerged their clothes were more than a bit disheveled.

* * *

Despite her continued irritation over not being able to go on the trip Asuka still ate dinner in the Katsuragi household. For that matter despite having her own place, shared with Rei of course, Asuka spent most of the time in Misato's apartment. Rei likewise was usually found in Misato's apartment and the two girls' place was barely even lived in save for the bathroom and bedrooms. It was a rather ironic arrangement as Misato once quipped, that after getting a place more or less her own Asuka would still spend so much time here that she might as well have been living with the captain and Shinji. Asuka's response to that was sticking out her tongue before returning her attention back to the TV.

Tonight the three pilots were alone, Misato having left earlier today for some business out of town. Her parting quip about leaving the three unsupervised for the night had not been appreciated by Asuka, but the reaction was considerably more subdued considering they had already had one night of unsupervised cohabitation during the synchronization training. In that instance all three pilots were even sleeping in the same apartment whereas now Asuka and Rei would head for their place once they were ready to crash for the night.

This evening was no different and despite her somewhat still sullen mood the Second Child's routine was otherwise unchanged. After eating dinner she plopped onto the couch and scanned through the channels, more killing time than actually watching anything. Rei on the other hand remained at the dinner table reading while Shinji tried to get some of the backed up schoolwork out of the way. The phone suddenly rang and even though none of the two girls were really doing anything neither moved to answer. That was less unreasonable than at first glance as this was still the Katsuragi household and so any call was likely for the captain or Shinji himself. Then again a hole had been punched in the walls to route the landline of Asuka and Rei's apartment into this one and a dedicated phone for that had been plugged in. Seeing as it was that phone ringing, Shinji felt he had little reason to answer.

"Asuka, it's for your place," he called out.

"Alright, I got it," the girl said somewhat irritably. She pulled herself up and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"

A surprisingly long silence fell and Shinji looked over in curiosity. Asuka was sitting with her side to him and the boy blinked in surprise at the stiff, almost stunned expression on the Second Child's face.

"Nein, ich bin hier," Asuka finally got out.

Another surprise. Asuka was obviously speaking German and so Shinji surmised that it was a call from her home country. That did not however explain the redhead's initial reaction.

"Warte eine Sekunde."

Asuka hit some button on the phone and suddenly flew out of her seat. The door did not slam quite as hard as yesterday but nevertheless the girl had not really made any effort to close it normally in her rush. Shinji frowned. Now he was really curious what was going on. The light on the phone turned red once more to indicate it was in use. Apparently Asuka wanted to continue that conversation in private. Shinji could respect that. If Asuka ever deigned to share with him what transpired, he would be ready to listen. Until then he still had homework to do.

For Asuka's part her fellow pilots were out of her mind the moment she stepped out the door. A second door slammed and Asuka was alone in her living room. She stood there motionless for what seemed an eternity, just looking at the phone. Maybe a part of her hoped her father would hang up. Another part was certainly afraid of what words he would next utter, not that she would admit that to herself just yet. Finally knowing that there was no running away, Asuka picked up the phone and hit the talk button.

"I'm back."

"Hey," Wilhelm said, not sounding in any way irritated at being put on hold for so long. "Are you going to have some time to talk?"

"Yeah," Asuka said. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Alright, good." Wilhelm took a deep breath. "I should have told you this a long time ago, Asuka. I'm sorry I didn't. But I hope that you'll at least hear me out."

Asuka said nothing.

"I know you think I didn't love your mother, especially after I remarried so quickly. It was unfair for you for me to do that, I know, and I don't blame you for thinking badly of me afterward. I know, you've done nothing that needs forgiving by me."

Still the redhead remained silent. She simply did not know what to say.

"The truth is Asuka, I did love Kyoko. Hells, I still do. When she started, losing herself, I didn't know what to do. What I should have done is been there for you, because I wasn't the only one hurting. She was your mother and I couldn't get over myself to realize how much you were hurting. And when someone reached out to me, to try to help me, I was too selfish to think about what that would mean to you."

"You abandoned mama," Asuka whispered almost without thinking.

A brief pause answered but Wilhelm did not let it linger. "Yes, I suppose I did. But even worse, I abandoned you. You were losing someone you loved and I wasn't there to help you shoulder the pain. And I'm sorry for that, Asuka. God, I'm sorry."

The last few words were scratchy and Asuka needed nothing else to know that her father was on the verge of tears. A flare of anger arose, demanding to know what he had to cry about. He wasn't the one that-the thought was brutally cut off. Asuka was too smart to lie to herself like that. Much like her, her father had watched Kyoko's mind slowly shatter. Just because he had not watched by Asuka's side did not mean he had not experienced the same sort of despair as the girl herself. That was the point he was trying to make after all. Her father had cracked under the pressure and sought comfort for his pain while offering none to Asuka. That was what he was apologizing to her. And if she accepted that apology, it would also mean she would have to accept that her father truly had loved her mother. Still did, or so he claimed. But did she believe him?

"Papa," Asuka finally said. "I need to think about this."

"Alright," Wilhelm said. "You deserve that. But, I just ask that we not bury this again and let it linger. If you have questions, if you have things you want to say, if you want to yell at me, then please, go ahead and do all of that. Just, don't hold it in again like we did last time."

Asuka almost took her father up on that. In fact her mouth was already open before she realized what was about to happen and she slammed it shut with an audible snap. As much as the girl needed to vent an increasingly loud part of her insisted that she really needed to think a little bit about this. That same part also insisted that if she just blabbed out what she was holding it she really would regret it, whatever her father might have claimed about wanting her to just let it all out. Because if her father was telling the truth, then he did not deserve at least some of the choice words Asuka's mind nearly instinctively churned out. He would probably still end up on the receiving end of a lot of them, but a few might have been too unfair.

"I understand papa," Asuka said. "And I won't wait too long. But give me a little time to think about all this."

"Of course," Wilhelm said. "And Asuka? No matter what happens, I'm glad that we were able to at least have this talk."

Asuka mumbled something incoherent, the closest that she could offer in terms of acknowledgment to that particular point right now. After bidding her father farewell she hung up and dropped the phone back into the base. The Second Child then promptly collapsed on the couch and became consumed in her own thoughts. She did not even notice Rei returning and taking a bath, nor did she notice the other girl retiring to her room in far lesser modesty than what the redhead's propriety would normally demand had she been paying attention. Only after Asuka went to take her own bath did she realize that Rei had been the first to do so for the night. More than a few curses were uttered as Asuka discovered the depleted nature of the apartment's hot water.

End of Chapter 9

I apologize now if I am the cause of this recent spat of more time traveling fics in the EVA section.

Anyway, this chapter is important for a couple of reasons. One, it gives a damn big hint about what one of the aces up the sidesteppers' collective sleeve is. More like whacks you in the face about what it is. Oh and two more sidesteppers got introduced.

Two, and perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates that the sidesteppers are fallible. Despite all the maneuvering, plotting, and direct actions they take, some things still get past them. One existing example is the assassin that took a shot at Soren. They were not expecting she/it/whatever to exist, but so far only the sidesteppers themselves have been targeted. Now they're confronted with something that directly ties into one of the pilots and they are not happy about it. From their perspective, they screwed up big time so they're in damage control and basically just waiting for the fallout to hit. I know some people may have thought that Soren and Amanda were too good at what they were doing, that they were getting away with their plots left and right. Well, yes, they have been, because they've basically tailored their plans so completely to everything they know about SEELE and Gendo. But there will be things that throw them off balance and we'll get to see some improvisation on their part. And seeing how many chapters I've been willing to dedicate to this arc, you can bet I intend for it to leave a major mark.

Third, I wanted to offer another peak at the wider picture that the sidesteppers have been working on. A lot of the things they've been working on, they've been long term projects that are just now coming to fruition. Case in point is the reconciliation of the Langley family. Amanda and Soren have been working on that one for literally years. And yes, Amanda does indeed have plans for the elder Langley.

Finally, this is perhaps the first chapter that I've offered specific statements about the nature of what the sidesteppers have been doing relating to causality. Most of you, my readers, have made statements that imply you think they've traveled back through time. At this point it should be becoming much clearer that that is not exactly what is going on here. For that matter, the fact that we have Asuka Langley SHIKINAMI and Mari Illustrious Makinami should have already told all of you something was up. I'll be updating the summary again and its description should provide the rest of the pieces you need to draw more accurate guesses.

Expect the flow of updates to slow over the next couple of weeks. Chapters 11 and 12 are still giving me grief, primarily because there is a lot of stuff I needed to shove in. Chapter 11 is almost certainly going to be the longest chapter I will have written. I think it's already breached the ten thousand word count. Chapter 12 will be shorter, but it has specific scenes that I need to handle with care.

I also am dealing with some work related issues that cropped up late last week. Suffice it to say that when the funding for your job is dependent on the value that certain policymakers place on higher education and the infrastructure supporting higher education, stability can be a bit problematic. I've had a couple of 'take that's' sprinkled about already in the story. I think my most blatant one was against all of the yaoi fangirls last chapter. I'm pretty sure I'll be sneaking another one in later to, vent my frustration with the shortsightedness of a certain political slant.

Anyway, drop a review if you're enjoying this.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Allegretto

When Wednesday morning arrived Asuka was still absorbed in thought. The night before had seen her get little sleep and for once it was not because of the nightmares. Her father's words echoed in her head and she barely tasted the food that Shinji laid out. In fact it was only after the sixth time that Shinji circled around her that she directly noticed something odd when she saw Rei staring at the Third Child. When Asuka locked her gaze onto Shinji the boy froze. Her eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?"

Shinji's expression flip-flopped between sheepish and fearful as the redhead caught him in the act. Finally deciding to face his fate like a man, he sighed.

"The wall of Jericho," he said.

Asuka's eyes narrowed. She remembered that reference with little delay.

"What about it?"

"Umm, it fell," Shinji mumbled.

The Second Child just stared at him in confusion for a few seconds. Then she recalled the legend associated with the defense and the way Shinji had been taking roundabout ways to reach the dining table every morning. Very rarely did Asuka Langley Shikinami's face turn scarlet but this morning it nearly matched her hair.

"Pervert! Creep! Idiot!"

The insults were entirely reflexive and Asuka immediately regretted screaming them out. Her chosen escape of slamming her head down onto the table was quickly determined to be an equally bad idea.

"Owwwww," the girl moaned.

"Umm, Asuka, are you okay?" Shinji asked.

Asuka raised a hand. "Give me a minute here."

Massaging her temples, Asuka ran through the current facts. Fact, she had accused Shinji, unfairly at that once one considered the First Child's habits, of being a pervert and demanded that he stay away from her by imposing a 'wall of Jericho' around herself. Fact, Shinji either looked up or somehow learned about the legend behind the historical wall and had for the last seven days been performing a simplified version of the ritual that caused the wall to fall. Fact, her own prejudices aside, the Third Child had not precipitated any incident that genuinely offended her womanhood. For that matter, their supposed guardian was a more blatant violator of social etiquette than Shinji. All of those combined would normally lead Asuka to conclude that Shinji had an actual interest in her and was trying to get close. That conclusion however faced one glaring flaw in the final fact, Shinji was apparently already getting closer to another girl named Mayumi Yamagishi.

"Baka Shinji," Asuka said, finally looking up. "For what reason would you want to bring down the wall?"

The flatness of the tone said it all. If Shinji wanted to live, his reply needed to not only answer the question but also satisfy Asuka's dignity and pride. Quite the tall order for someone as inarticulate as the boy.

"Umm, I just, wanted to clear things up with you," Shinji said. "I don't really want us to be at odds with each other. I'd rather we be friends, you know."

Asuka, despite her many claims to the contrary, was still a child. At 13 years old she was actually the youngest of the pilots stationed at NERV-Tokyo. As such her understanding of relationships between men and women was superficial or formed from her observation of those older than her. Her first impressions had come from the deteriorating marriage of her parents, which had nearly permanently soured her on the notion of marriage entirely if not male female relationships in general.

Her second impressions came from a much more stable pairing however, that of Soren Reimer and Amanda Sommer. The two were already married by the time they met Asuka and were still together even now. Everyone said that they were a loving couple and yet as far as the eight year old Asuka could tell they did not do anything special that made it obvious that they were in love. About the only thing that separated their interactions with each other from how they dealt with others was Amanda's perfect willingness to call her husband an idiot just like Asuka did…with…the girl's brain crashed, along with her forehead against the table again. Too many shocks would do that to a person.

"Uh, Asuka?" Shinji asked, now genuinely worried.

"Baka Shinji," Asuka said, head still down so the sound a bit muffled. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I said to papa last night. I need to think about this."

Shinji relaxed a bit. "Of course Asuka."

Having finished her meal, Rei calmly picked up her dishes and utensils and brought them over to the sink. For all the excitement around her, the First Child seemed as unperturbed as ever.

* * *

Shinji Ikari had a problem. Well, a couple of problems, but there was no need to worry about things not in the immediate present. Right now his problem was that he was standing in front of Mayumi's home but the girl was nowhere in sight. There was any number of reasonable explanations from Mayumi not having gotten home yet to her actually waiting for him inside. The problem however was despite the considerable firming of his backbone over the past few months, the thought of knocking on the door of a girl he might, sort of, possibly like, was still extremely daunting. Of course this really only was a problem because of his other problem, that he might, sort of, possibly like Mayumi. The boy was nothing if not confused.

Fortunately someone else appeared to solve his problem for him. The door to the house opened and a gentle looking woman with a warm smile stepped out.

"You must be Ikari-san," she said and bowed.

"Oh! Uh, yes, I am," Shinji said, his own bow far more frantic. "Umm, I was supposed to meet Mayumi-san here after school, and, uh, is she back yet?"

The woman shook her head. "No, but I expect she will be shortly. Please, do come in, there's no need for you to be standing out here like this."

"Umm, thank you very much, um…"

"My name is Yamagishi Fuuka," the woman said, her shoulder length hair swaying gentle as she bowed again. "Thank you very much for being Mayumi's friend, Ikari-san."

"I, I'm really glad to be her friend," Shinji said.

Fuuka smiled at him again and gestured for him to enter. Taking a deep breath Shinji accepted the invitation.

The inside of the house was remarkably neat and clean, though a few toys were laying here and there. The sound of children could be heard down the hall, all full of life. They only grew louder as Fuuka led him into a large living room area. Quite a few children were sprawled about, engaged in one form of play or another. Off to the side however was a large piano, one that more fitting for a concert hall than this simple living room. Upon his entrance the children stopped their play, casting their gaze on this new stranger.

"Everyone, this is Ikari Shinji-san," Fuuka said. "Be nice and remember your manners."

A chorus of yesses came in response and quite a few of the kids actually bowed in greeting. Shinji quickly reciprocated. No need for him to be the impolite one here.

"Have a seat," Fuuka said. "Would you like some tea while you wait?"

"Oh I'm fine," Shinji said. "I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"It's no trouble," Fuuka assured him, pouring a cup from a pre-heated pot and presenting it to him.

"Thank you very much," Shinji said.

"I believe this is the first time we've actually met," Fuuka said. "Mayumi has told me quite a bit about you though, Ikari-san."

"Oh, she has?" Shinji said, blushing slightly. He quickly took a sip to try to hide it.

Fuuka nodded with a knowing look. "You made quite the impression upon her. Thank you for that."

That surprised the boy. "Huh? I'm, not sure I understand."

"Mayumi's very sensitive," Fuuka said. "Because of that she often has trouble letting people close. But you never pushed her and let her take her own pace. That's why Mayumi thinks you're very kind and why I agree."

"Oh." Shinji blushed. "I, I don't know if I really can be called kind."

Fuuka smiled gently. "That is ultimately something you have to decide for yourself. And I'm not here to put any pressure on you about Mayumi. That you're her friend is already something I am thankful for. I just hope that you can appreciate her friendship as much as she does yours."

"I do," Shinji said, his voice gaining strength with that admission. "I mean, I'm really glad to have met her."

"That's good enough," Fuuka said. "And that's why I thanked you, Ikari-san."

As Shinji pondered the meaning of those words the door opened and a composed, comforting voice sounded.

"I'm home."

Several of the kids leapt to their feet and scrambled towards the front.

"Yumi-nee!"

"Welcome back!"

"Nee-san!"

Fuuka chuckled as she watched the kids scamper by. Standing, she winked at Shinji.

"I think you better get going before Mayumi gets bogged down."

"Oh uh, of course. Thank you again, Yamagishi-san."

"Please, call me Fuuka. Otherwise we'll just end up wondering which Yamagishi you're referring to."

Shinji looked at the other orphans that were filtering back in with Mayumi in tow. That was certainly true enough. The girl in question blushed at seeing Shinji in the living room but smiled nonetheless. Shinji had no trouble returning it.

Getting out of the house took a good ten minutes or so as some of the children seemed rather reluctant to let Mayumi go. More than one cast suspicious glares at Shinji and the boy found himself almost amused at their obvious attachment to their big sister. More and more he was seeing what a loving family actually looked like. Once away however they made good time and arrived at the library with plenty of time to look around. The topics of their conversation quickly turned to the matter at hand.

Like the others, the Third Municipal Library was a very large building. It was also the only library in the city, perhaps all of Japan for that matter, that allowed patrons to directly browse for books to borrow instead of having them wait for library staff to find and retrieve requests. That made the place very popular with a large range of booklovers and the library saw a noticeably higher usage rate than the other libraries in the city, much to the chagrin of the more conservative and hidebound librarians that managed those.

Today the library was even more crowded than usual thanks to the book fair. Fortunately this being Japan the event was fairly well organized with a catalog provided to each patron that listed the various sellers present and the genres they had on offer as well as any special items of note. The library's own used books were separated into genres to begin with, making things even easier.

"What books do you tend to read, Shinji-kun?" Mayumi asked.

"Umm, mostly slice of life style stories," Shinji said. "To me they always seemed like a kind of fantasy, even if for other people it seemed mundane."

Mayumi nodded, having learned a bit about Shinji's family circumstances during a brief private moment at the marine preserve.

"Mundane can be good though," the girl offered. "An exciting life often comes with many trials and hardships. I don't think I'd like that very much."

That was true enough. Shinji could recall well all his suffering before arriving in Tokyo-3. Then there were the things that happened after his arrival. Yet through it all he had emerged with friends, a sort of family, and now perhaps even someone he liked. More than liked maybe.

"Some hardships are worth it though," Shinji said thoughtfully, "if they help you get closer to other people."

"That's true," Mayumi acknowledged before flashing Shinji a shy smile. "But once you do get closer, it'd be nice to spend simpler days together."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed.

Making their way up the stairs, they drifted into the appropriate section. Not surprisingly the female patrons easily outnumbered the male ones but with Mayumi here Shinji felt slightly less self-conscious and actually felt relaxed enough to browse a bit.

"Was there a section you wanted to check out?" Shinji asked.

"Umm, I wanted to see if I could find something by Murakami Ryu-sensei," Mayumi said. "One of my teachers recommended his book _Ai to Gensou no Fascism_ but I've never gotten around to reading it."

"I've never heard of him," Shinji admitted.

"He's, an acquired taste," Mayumi said, blushing for some reason. "I've only read one or two of his short stories. He can write very well, but his topics, umm, well, they're pretty open? I guess."

"It almost sounds like you're not a fan," Shinji said.

"Well, he does write very well. And his works are often very psychological. Maybe even a little philosophical. It's, hard to explain."

"Hmm, maybe I should try one of them," Shinji mused.

Mayumi actually coughed at that. Her blush deepened. "Ah, I think you'd like something else more. Umm, maybe something by Mishima Yukio-sensei?"

"Oh, I think we had one of his books in our literature course at school."

"Really?" Mayumi said, brightening a bit. "Do you remember which one?"

Despite his best efforts Shinji shook his head. "I'm sorry, it was for before I transferred in."

After a moment of thought Mayumi nodded. "Umm, could you come with me for a sec Shinji-kun?"

"Of course."

The two walked through the library once more and reached one of the vendors. The person there seemed to know Mayumi and greeted her happily before giving Shinji a curious look. The boy bowed and introduced himself, causing the look to become bemused. Mayumi however was already busy in her search and quickly found what she was looking for. She presented it to Shinji.

"_Shiosai_," she said with a slight blush. "I think you'd enjoy it."

"Oh? Thank you Mayumi-san," Shinji said and turned to pay the vendor.

The two wandered about a bit more, Mayumi indeed finding the book she wanted. As dinner time approached the two left the library, each with their respective bounty.

"Thank you for today, Shinji-kun," Mayumi said. "I had a wonderful time."

"Me too," Shinji said. "Umm, I'll walk you home."

Mayumi blushed and as she fell in line next to him gingerly reached out a hand. To his credit Shinji did not jump at the sudden touch, instead slowly letting their fingers intertwine. It was much harder than he thought possible to let her go when they reached the orphanage.

"Good night Shinji-kun," Mayumi said. "I'll see you soon."

The boy nodded and stood there dumbly for a few moments after Mayumi disappeared into the house. And then he smiled, content with the time he had just spent with Mayumi and knowing that he would have much more time to share with her in the future. Of that he was certain.

* * *

"I'm back," Shinji announced.

Rei looked up from her book and nodded. "Welcome back."

"Good evening Ayanami," Shinji said.

"Pilot Shikinami requested to speak with you," Rei said.

"Oh? Is Asuka in her apartment?"

"No she is not," a voice called out and Asuka emerged from the bathroom.

"Oh, Asuka," Shinji said. "Umm, are you okay?"

The redhead looked at Shinji and then tilted her head towards the table. "Sit."

The boy obeyed and took a seat on the other side from Rei. Asuka settled down directly opposite from him and rested her chin on her folded hands. Shinji stared, taken aback slightly at the pose. It was too reminiscent of his father.

"How much do you care about that girl, Yamagishi?"

Shinji blinked. That was not the question he had been expecting.

"Umm, what?"

The redhead glared at him. "Answer. The question."

The boy blinked again.

"I, I care about her a lot," he finally said. "She's, very important to me."

The glare turned into a thoughtful gaze and Asuka silently regarded him for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she set down her hands.

"You'll stay with her and never betray her."

A question would have carried with it more uncertainty whereas a greater will would have stood behind an order. Despite not knowing exactly which Asuka's statement fell under Shinji nodded.

"Yes."

Asuka returned the nod. "Alright then. It's a promise. And a man that keeps promises is someone that I can respect."

As the meaning of Asuka's words sank in a genuine smile formed on Shinji's face. The one that Asuka returned was equally bright as she smiled with Shinji instead of merely at him.

Dinner went as usual though Asuka offered her complements that night and so Shinji's mood was relaxed as he prepared to do his homework. It was then that he recalled the book Mayumi had recommended for him. He decided to take a look before starting his homework. The next morning he was scrambling to get said homework done before classes started. No chance of him doing it before getting to school, what with Asuka demanding breakfast and lunch.

* * *

The Geofront was actually a very scenic place. It possessed both a small forest and a pristine lake that was perfect for a nice hike. Said lake was also perfect for scuba diving, a fact that had not escaped Asuka's attention. There was even a destroyer of all things sitting in the lake that could act as a platform to dive off of. How exactly NERV got said destroyer down into the Geofront was one of the organization's many mysteries. It took an admirable amount of restraint on the redhead's part to not ask.

Getting permission to do such scuba diving had taken a bit of doing however with her first going to Misato and then nagging Amanda. Both kicked it upstairs to the commander and vice-commander for slightly different reasons. Misato honestly did not know if she should let her charge take a dip in the lake whereas Amanda knew it was perfectly safe and simply wanted to irritate the people nominally in charge. Plus having them say no would simply allow her to redirect the younger girl's anger at them.

Gendo had ultimately not even deigned to notice the request. Fuyutsuki was however too diligent a man and after adding quite a few qualifiers and conditions gave his approval. As such when the weekend came around Asuka found herself with not one but two guardians, one of whom was busy reminding herself that someone as familiar with bureaucratic infighting as the vice-commander should not be underestimated.

"Well, if I'm here I might as well enjoy it too," Amanda said as she finished changing.

Perhaps due to experience Amanda was the first of the women present to get ready. Asuka and Rei were not far behind however. On the other hand when they emerged Kaji and Shinji were already waiting, the Third Child looking just a tad sullen. Him perking up at the sight of the girls was fortunately something Asuka was not going to hold against him too much. He was a boy after all and hey, was he staring at Rei? Asuka's tolerance began evaporating quickly.

"Well don't all of you look lovely," Kaji said, interrupting Asuka before she could exact vengeance on Shinji's unforgivable slight against her feminine pride.

"Flattery will only get you shot by my husband," Amanda said, though she was smiling.

"All too true," Kaji said. "Anyway, I have the tanks ready to go. And the floats for Shinji-kun here."

That the Third Child could not swim was one of the dumber things about the boy in Asuka's considered opinion. Swimming was a basic survival skill and the girl found it utterly incomprehensible, almost insulting, that there were people who seemed to actively fear the act of acquiring the skill. Fortunately Amanda seemed to agree with that line of thought even if she was not quite so forthright about it and after receiving permission to use the lake for some scuba diving the older woman had combined it with a crash course to teach Shinji how to swim. In the middle of the lake where it was deep enough for the destroyer to sit anchored. Shinji would of course have some flotation devices to help him. The girls were not quite that cruel.

"Thank you Ryoji," Amanda said and proceeded to strap on the tank and other equipment. "Rei, have you ever done this before?"

The girl shook her head.

"Alright, hang tight, I'll help you once I'm geared up."

"Yeah like that's going to be easy," Asuka said. "I'll help the First into her stuff before I put on mine."

"My, how thoughtful of you."

Asuka stuck out her tongue. "It's called paying attention."

A few minutes later and preparations were completed. Amanda then ran through a basic safety check, every second of which slowly wore away at the Second Child's patience.

"Alright you two, follow my lead and don't wonder off," Amanda said. "Don't do anything stupid unless you want this to be the last time you get to scuba dive here."

"Yes, yes," Asuka said.

Rei simply nodded.

"Well then, here we go!"

The woman took off with a giant's entry, the deck they were on being just a bit too high to perform a back roll into the water. Rei followed suit, her movements a bit less smooth at the unfamiliar posture while Asuka mimicked it perfectly.

"Well now that the girls are in the water, we should probably join them," Kaji said.

Shinji looked unconvinced and eyed the rolling waves uneasily. The older man chuckled at the boy's obvious reluctance. As Shinji peered at the water from the ship's edge Kaji gave him the tiniest of pushes. A splash sounded.

"K-Kaji-san! Help!"

"You have floaters attached Shinji-kun," Kaji called back. "Just relax!"

It took some effort but Shinji finally forced himself to stop flaying about. Despite his fears he remained afloat and after being assured that he would not being drowning any time soon shot the older man an aggrieved look.

"That wasn't very nice Kaji-san."

"Sorry kiddo, but sometimes a little push is what's needed," Kaji said with a smile. He then jumped in himself. "Now seeing as I've been handed the task of teaching you the basics of swimming, we might as well get started. Who knows, if you improve fast enough we might be able to join the girls diving tomorrow."

"No thank you," Shinji said. "If man was meant to submerge himself in water he would have been given gills."

Kaji chuckled. "Not a big fan of water, are you?"

"I spend enough time in LCL," Shinji muttered.

"Ah, yes, I suppose that would put a dampener on things, especially if you didn't know how to swim before," Kaji conceded. "Still, Asuka is right about one thing. Swimming is a useful survival skill that you should at least get the basics of."

"I suppose," Shinji admitted grudgingly.

It was somewhat strange to see the Third Child actually reluctant to do something so mundane. Most things he was asked to do the boy would just go along with it and only rarely was he even half-hearted about it. Well, no one could be perfect and it cheered Kaji slightly that deep down Shinji was still a boy that had concerns. There may yet be hope for him after all.

"Well think of it this way, if you do go scuba diving with the girls you'll get to ogle them in their swimsuits," Kaji teased.

"I already had plenty of that on Monday," Shinji muttered.

Kaji blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Asuka took me and Rei with her when she went swimsuit shopping," the boy said. "Remember? She tried to invite you but you said you were busy."

Kaji did remember that but he had apparently been too far away to hear Asuka after he declined. A smile was quickly plastered over his face though.

"Well, well," he said. "Asuka really must have taken a shine to you if she wanted you along."

"Still not too sure about that," Shinji muttered.

Kaji chuckled. "I assume you're still a tad confused as to what Asuka is thinking?"

"She's, hard to understand," Shinji stated. "I don't think she's a bad person, but sometimes she does and says things that aren't really clear."

"Both of you are still young," Kaji said. "As you grow more comfortable around each other you'll find it easier to understand one another. Each person is different so it's not surprising some are harder to get to know than others. But I wouldn't worry too much about it, if you can learn to tread water this faster learning how to deal with Asuka should be no sweat."

To his considerable surprise Shinji found that he really was staying above water with less and less help from the floaters. While deep in thought apparently his body had reflexively taken over and moved his arms and legs in an automatic fashion. Maybe being in water was not so unnatural for a human after all. After about an hour or so Shinji had gotten the basics of staying afloat and the front stroke down and the two were climbing back onto the boat when the radio crackled.

"Captain Sommer, Inspector Kaji, please respond."

"This is Kaji," the man replied.

"Please return the pilots to HQ immediately, a situation has arisen."

Kaji's eyes narrowed. There were no sirens going off so an Angel attack was not likely imminent. The other possibility however was Misato's little trip actually turning up something."

"Understood," Kaji said.

With the girls under water normally they would have had little choice but to wait for them to surface. On the other hand one of the additional conditions for the little trip was the girls taking a recall beacon with them underwater. Kaji activated it and sure enough within a minute or so three heads broke the surface of the water, albeit some distance away. It ultimately took another couple of minutes for them to actually return to the destroyer.

"I'm not hearing any sirens," Amanda commented as she climbed back onboard.

"I received a recall order from command," Kaji stated. "Whatever it is it's obviously not that time sensitive, but they still want the pilots back."

"Oh come on! We just got here!" Asuka protested.

"Sorry Asuka, but duty never rests," Amanda said. "But you know, now that you've gotten permission to go diving once, what's to stop you from just taking a dip whenever you want?"

"So you and Kaji will be on call for me?" the girl said mischievously.

"That's not, exactly what I meant."

Asuka chuckled. "I know. But I will keep the offer in mind. Oooh, maybe we could go night diving!"

Amanda sighed. "Whatever am I going to do with you."

"That would be an interesting experience," Rei said, taking the others by surprise.

Asuka recovered quickly. "You bet! It's amazing how quiet and calm things are when the lights are out. Okay, now we definitely have to do it!"

Rei glanced at Shinji. "Do you believe you will have sufficiently improved to join us for such an excursion, Ikari-kun?"

"Huh? Oh uh, I, don't know?" Shinji said sheepishly. "I mean, I guess it depends on when you'd go."

"Hey, why is it that when I invited you to this you moaned and groaned but when the First invites you you just fold," Asuka demanded.

"I, do I do that?"

Asuka's glare intensified.

"I mean, I don't recall complaining," Shinji said quickly.

The beady look did not subside.

Shinji sighed. "I really don't complain, Asuka. You just take me by surprise a lot. I guess, I just don't ever really expect to get invited out by a girl as, well, umm, willful, as you."

Asuka considered the boy's words trying to figure out whether he was complimenting her or not and so did not notice the amused looks from the two adults.

"C'mon Asuka," Amanda said after a few moments. "We need to get back to HQ. You can figure out if you've been successful with your flirting there."

"I AM NOT FLIRTING!" the girl screeched.

"Sure, sure, just remember to invite us for the wedding."

Asuka stared in horror at her mentor and looked like she was going to tear someone's head off. Shinji quickly made a tactical retreat into the men's changing room while Amanda laughed merrily as she headed for the women's. Letting out a cry of frustration Asuka stalked after her. Rei followed, feeling more than a bit confused at the interaction. Despite her denial the First Child could detect a slight hesitation in the other girl, suggesting a not entirely honest rejection of Amanda's tease. That elicited some even more confusing emotions in Rei, including a slight tightening of her chest. The First resolved to think things over a bit and speak with someone who might be more experienced in such matters. Captain Katsuragi seemed a good candidate. Her past experience from being in a relationship with Inspector Kaji would likely provide sufficient background to allow her to answer Rei's questions.

* * *

By the time the pilots reached the specified conference room the focus of Asuka's irritation had shifted from the UN auditor to the source of the recall order.

"This better be good," Asuka muttered. "First they don't let me go on vacation and now they interrupt my playtime. I swear, heads will roll if they're wasting my time."

"Oh don't worry about that Asuka," Misato said as she entered the briefing room. "In fact you're about to get a wish fulfilled?"

Asuka regarded the woman warily. "Am I now?"

Misato nodded with a smile. "You know how you wanted us to go on the offensive?"

The girl's eyes widened. So did Shinji's for that matter. Only Rei remained impassive.

"You mean you've found where the Angels come from!?" Asuka asked.

"Not quite," Ritsuko said as she followed her friend in. "We have however found one Angel that appears to still be maturing."

Asuka sat back down and waited for the other adults to find their seats. Clearing her throat, Ritsuko plugged her laptop into the projector and brought up an image.

"This image was taken by a probe inside Mount Asama," Ritsuko said before glancing at Misato, "shortly before its destruction."

The captain pretended not to notice.

"It managed to gather enough data however to confirm a pattern blue signature," Ritsuko continued, "and with further enhancement we were able to come up with this."

The blurred image shifted and was replaced with a much crisper oval-shaped capsule. The truly remarkable thing however was the outline of the thing inside the capsule.

"Is that, an embryo?" Asuka said in amazement.

"That is the hypothesis," Ritsuko said. "Seeing as we have no actual understanding of an Angel's lifecycle however, we cannot make any definitive conclusions, at least not until we retrieve it."

The three pilots stared at the adults.

"This find is unprecedented," Ritsuko said, "and if we can capture and examine the Angel we gain a real chance of understanding just what these creatures are. Furthermore after examination we may be able to neutralize the Angel without a massive battle. That by itself is worth the risk."

"But, isn't it inside a volcano?" Shinji asked. "How are we supposed to get to it?"

"With an EVA of course," Misato said. "The technical department is already making modifications to Unit 02 to help it withstand the heat and pressure."

"Wait, what are you doing to my EVA!?"

"Oh, I thought you'd leap at the chance to take the fight to the Angels," Misato said with a sly smile.

"Well yeah, but that isn't answering the question!"

"Even with its AT-field an EVA would be hard pressed to survive in that kind of environment," Ritsuko said. "The technical department however has a set of prototype D-type equipment that was designed for extreme conditions. We are equipping Unit 02 with them, since its design allows for the easiest addition of modules."

Even were Asuka more self-centered it was unlikely that kind of praise would have been enough to placate her. It was easy enough for the doctor to misinterpret Asuka's sudden silence as acceptance of the indirect compliment but Misato had known the girl longer and saw the more thoughtful mood.

"Don't worry," Misato said. "In addition to Unit 02, we'll also be taking Unit 01 along. It'll remain outside the volcano to provide support."

Asuka snorted. "Fat lot Shinji'd do outside if that thing wakes up while I'm still inside the volcano. What is he supposed to do then, shoot into the volcano with that peashooter?"

That was not something the two women could not deny but before they could come up with a response Shinji did it for them.

"Don't worry Asuka, I'll do whatever it takes to back you up if that happens."

The girl glanced over at Shinji with a raised eyebrow but to the surprise of the adults actually smiled.

"I have no doubt of that Baka Shinji," she said. "Just don't show off too much."

Backhanded compliment that may be, for the redhead that was actually a genuine mark of respect. Shinji was slowly figuring that out and getting acclimated and so he smiled in response as well.

"And what of Unit 00?" Rei suddenly asked, reminding everyone that she was also present.

"Unit 00 will remain back at HQ just in case," Misato said. "Sorry Rei, Commander's orders."

The girl nodded, her face almost as unreadable as ever. Shinji however thought he noticed the barest sign of discontent. He might well have been imagining it though.

"Anyway, we have a lot of work if we're going to make our deployment deadline," Misato said. "Let's get to it!"

* * *

"Ikari is a goddamn prick," Amanda said.

Soren gave his wife a bemused look from the passenger seat. "Is that a general statement or has the commander done something specific to irritate you this time?"

Amanda snorted, somehow able to divide her attention upon multiple tasks in a way mere men could never quite achieve. "He's a walking embarrassment to mankind just by existing. But as for my last remark, it's his blatant disregard for human life."

"That still does not quite narrow it down," Soren pointed out.

"True," Amanda agreed. "Let's see, first there is his selection of Unit 02 for the capture operation. We both know the real reason he did that, it's because he can't risk Unit 01 due to its importance. And he won't risk Rei because of a really twisted sentimentality. So of course he goes with Unit 02 and gets Ritsuko to come up with some excuse about its better support for modules."

Soren shrugged as much as the seat belt would let him. "Technically that excuse is valid."

"Yeah, right, next you're going to tell me you actually believe it was the driving force behind his actual decision."

"Of course not. But do at least give the devil his due. He tends to be at least somewhat attentive to the details."

"Alright, fine. Anyway, where was I? Oh right, so first is choosing Asuka. Second is his ordering of the N2 warhead to bomb the volcano in case the Angel wakes up. Not only does that put Asuka and now even Shinji at even more risk, he's liable to kill the support staff on site as well. And seeing as that staff includes one Maya Ibuki, who happens to probably be the second most valuable member of Project E at NERV-Tokyo even if she is not privy to the actual purpose of Instrumentality."

"That does seem remarkably careless for Ikari," Soren agreed. "While her devotion does not quite mirror that of the younger woman, Ritsuko does care about Maya and losing her would severely impact her efficiency."

"I think Ikari's just trying to use this as a way to unsettle the committee," Amanda said. "Their scenario never called for finding an Angel still undergoing development. The more Ikari can cause events to deviate, the more flexibility he gains in supposedly responding to these deviations."

"It would fit the usual pattern," Soren said. "The real question now is how much will these events deviate from our scenario."

Amanda grimaced and Soren began wondering if it really was such a good idea to be distracting his wife while she was driving. Then Amanda merged over and back again to get ahead of the plodding car ahead of them and reminded Soren again of that wonderful skill women possessed called multitasking.

"Assuming things go according to plan Shinji will save Asuka. That was part of the original scenario so I'm not terribly worried about it. Though maybe we should drop a random comment about thermal expansion."

"Random?"

"You know, tease them about their homework."

"If you feel that to be necessary," Soren said.

"Shinji seemed remarkably caught up with his schoolwork," Amanda explained.

"Ah. Well, I leave that bit to your discretion. Worst case we fudge the score a bit and intervene to at least guarantee the defeat of the Angel."

Amanda frowned. "You know we're supposed to only do that as a last resort."

"I think keeping an Angel from winning a battle warrants it," Soren said dryly.

* * *

Only a few seconds passed from when he rang the bell before the door opened.

"Ah, Ikari-san," Fuuka greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"Well Fuuka-san," Shinji said.

"Ah, but what am I doing keeping you standing here, you're here to see Mayumi am I right?"

Shinji smiled sheepishly.

"Well, come in. Mayumi is practicing in the living room."

"Practicing?" Shinji said before the gentle cadence of a piano reached him.

The piece was slowly paced, each note having time to fully sound before a new one eclipsed it. Together they weaved a poignant melody that Shinji found himself drawn into. It took much effort to pull his mind back to the present and his errand this day. He stepped inside and followed the sounds to the living room. They grew stronger until he saw Mayumi at the piano, carefully and thoughtfully pressing each key. Each pure note seemed to fill his heart.

Mayumi finished the piece and took a deep breath. That turned into a squeak when she looked up and saw Shinji.

"Shi-Shinji-kun!?"

"Ah, Mayumi-san, I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Shinji said a bit sheepishly.

Despite the intense reddening of her face Mayumi shook her head. "Not at all! Umm, don't worry, you could never disturb me. I just, didn't know you were listening…"

Shinji smiled. "That was beautiful."

The blush on Mayumi's face somehow deepened. "Th-thank you."

"Umm, I came by because I wanted to let you know I'll be out of town for a few days for work," Shinji said, getting to the point of his visit. "I should be back sometime next week at the latest though."

"Oh, okay. Thank you for telling me, but umm, you didn't need to come all the way out here just for that, Shinji-kun."

"I didn't want a repeat of last time when I disappeared for a week without telling you," Shinji said as he moved over to the piano. "I didn't have your number or know where you lived back then otherwise I would have told you about training I was going through."

"Don't worry about it," Mayumi assured him. "You're telling me now and that's what's important."

Shinji's smile deepened as he thought of how far they had come. He glanced down at the keys.

"Have you been playing for a while?"

Mayumi nodded. "For a few years. I'm, still not very good yet. Not like Mother is."

"I think you're plenty good," Shinji said earnestly. "You're certainly better than me."

The girl blinked. "Do you play too, Shinji-kun?"

"Well, not the piano, but I know how to play the cello," Shinji said.

"Really?" Mayumi clasped her hands together as if in prayer. "I'd like to hear that someday."

Thinking it over, Shinji made his decision. "Mayumi-san, I should be back by next Wednesday, are you free the following Saturday?"

The question seemed to catch the girl off guard but she recovered quickly. "Huh? Uh, yes I don't have anything planned for that day."

"Then, I was wondering if you would like to, have lunch with me Saturday?"

This time a long silence dragged out and Shinji could hear his own heart pounding. He told himself that Mayumi's silence did not mean she would decline, that she was simply gathering her thoughts. It was sudden of him after all to make this kind of invitation.

"I-I would love to," Mayumi finally said and Shinji felt his own heart soar.

"Great! Umm, what's a good time for me to come and pick you up?"

"Let me see, will we be going far?"

"Oh, I think a little way by train, but it won't be a long ride."

"Okay, then 11 should be fine?"

Shinji nodded to himself. "Alright, 11 works. I'll bring my cello too and after we get back I'll play a little something for you."

Mayumi's smile grew deeper. "That sounds wonderful. And I know I won't be the only one that would appreciate it."

Shinji nodded. "Then, until next week, Mayumi-san. Take care."

"You too Shinji-kun, and, come back to me, okay?"

Shinji's heart started beating faster again. "I will. It's a promise."

End of Chapter 10

A lot of planning has going into the Mayumi arc. And I mean a lot. Despite her rushed introduction I've now spent a significant percentage of the story developing her. Even so the official pairing of this fic remains Asuka and Shinji. I think it's pretty obvious why that is the case. If it isn't, just know that the climax of the Mayumi arc is chapter 11 and the resolution is chapter 12.

I have a passing interest in Japanese literature and the books I've selected to mention in this chapter are for a reason. Ryu Murakami's work is more of just an injoke of sorts but Yukio Mishima's work I chose for a very specific reason. The English translation is titled _The Sound of Waves_ for those of you interested in looking it up. Thematically there is a reason Shinji stays up to read it.

I suppose if I really wanted to I could have padded this chapter with more interaction between Asuka, Rei, and Shinji. I'm not inclined to do so because we'll be getting plenty of that in the post-chapter 12 content. As it is we're maybe a third of the way through my master outline and so there is plenty of time for additional character development. And plenty of time for even more characters to be reintroduced.

I will be traveling for quite a bit during the month of April so expect to see updates much less frequently.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Lacrimoso

"This just keeps getting worse and worse," Amanda muttered.

Her husband nodded as he flipped through the local newspaper.

"The outcome of the capture operation was, suboptimal," Soren agreed, though that statement would have caused considerable confusion for anyone not in the know.

The successful retrieval of the Eight Angel's embryo was an unexpected deviation and one that only promised future complications down the line.

"We were counting on this to get the two closer together. Hell, those two and Misato."

"An unfortunate side effect of the Yamagishi scenario's intrusion," Soren said. "We've managed to backtrack enough of her sequence that we know she's connected to the Eighth. It is likely Sandalphon remains dormant because Mayumi herself has not awakened."

"That's going to change pretty quickly once they start trying to cut it open," Amanda said.

Soren nodded. "The Matsushiro branch is going to be getting a very unpleasant surprise."

"Not like they weren't going to get one later anyway," Amanda said with a sigh. "Do we know why Yamagishi exists in this score?"

Soren licked his lips thoughtfully as he finally set aside the paper. "Yes and no."

Amanda growled. "Just spit it out."

"We haven't tracked down the exact point of synchronicity," Soren said, "but we have picked out a few of the ripples that formed as a consequence. The orphanage that she grew up in for example."

"What about it?"

"You did not notice the name? It's Japanese for Dawn Light."

Amanda's face paled. "Are you saying?"

Soren nodded. "The grant that allowed Ms. Yamagishi to establish it came from a subsidiary trust."

"Oh, damn. This is not making the situation any easier."

"Quite. This variant of Mayumi exists because the orphanage was there for her. And the orphanage exists because of the flow of resources that we redirected. We cannot have prevented the orphanage from existing without also cutting off that redirection, it's too minute a point in the overall score. And stopping that redirection would have meant countless others suffering deprivation, not just those children the orphanage saved."

"Wait, you said this was a consequence of her appearance, an effect, not a cause?"

Soren nodded. "Interestingly yes. The orphanage exists because of our intervention yes, but it ended up as little more than a convenient point of entry for Mayumi. We gamed an alteration to the score that saw the funding withdrawn and she still emerged. Whatever pattern wove her in, it is persistent and aligned with some other cause."

"God, I hate this shit," Amanda said, grasping her head in frustration. "Alright, I suppose we'll need to figure out how she got tied into the score the hard way. What about her connection to the Angel?"

Soren's expression darkened ever so slightly but Amanda caught it with little difficulty.

"What?"

"We've determined the responsible party," he said. "It was a parallel program of the Ayanami series. SEELE tried to see what would happen if they spliced DNA from Adam with humans. There were complications however and most of the subjects died. When the Ayanami series proved more fruitful, they terminated the other program and, disposed of the survivors. As far as we can tell, Mayumi's the only one that's lived this long and only because SEELE lost track of her after they thought she had been terminated."

Soren's tone through his entire explanation was dispassionate, almost frighteningly so. Amanda was not fooled in the least as she felt her husband's abject rage as he spoke. Walking over, she wrapped her arms around him.

"We'll make sure they don't get away with this," she said.

Soren nodded, his anger subsiding enough for his composure to become the indifferent mask everyone else saw.

"I presume Misato is celebrating the success of the operation with Asuka and Shinji at the hot springs?" Soren said.

Amanda nodded. "They should be back by tomorrow though." The woman then winced. "And according to Section-2 Shinji has another date with Mayumi this coming weekend."

The man sighed and pinched his nose. "This is simply not going to end well."

"Tell me about it," Amanda muttered. "And you know what's even worse? Misato isn't making near enough progress to provide a cushion for when Shinji does fall."

"Not surprising considering her own insecurities," Soren said. "I wonder if she is subconsciously blinding herself to Shinji's problems because they resonate too much with her own."

Amanda growled. "That is entirely too possible."

"Perhaps some intervention will be necessary after all," Soren said, "in your capacity as UN Auditor-General of course."

"You have something in mind?"

"How do you think Misato would react if she knew why Shinji piloted the EVA?"

His wife grimaced. "Risky. She may have a low opinion of the commander as a person but she may still think he is not beyond redemption."

"And you think she might believe a reconciliation is possible," Soren finished for her. "True enough, but keep in mind that this time around Misato knows about Rei's living conditions."

"Hmm, there is that. Alright, I'll think of something that should jar her a bit. We don't really need her to go sober cold turkey after all, we just need Misato to stop running away from her own problems so that she's actually around to help Shinji and Asuka with theirs."

"That should be sufficient," Soren said, picking up his paper again.

"In the meantime, we still have to deal with Shinji and Mayumi. I don't think we should try to interfere with that relationship."

Soren glanced at his wife from behind the paper with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh stop looking at me like that, you know I'm not entirely selfish. Those two deserve what happiness they can find in what time they have left together. It might make the blow sting more later, but once he's recovered he'll cherish those moments even more and come out stronger."

"A point," Soren agreed, flipping to another page. "In that case, perhaps we should drop by the Katsuragi residence the day of their date and see to the improvement of Asuka and Ayanami's culinary skills."

Amanda chuckled. "That sounds positively evil. Count me in."

* * *

The hot springs were heavenly and thanks to NERV basically renting out the entire place Shinji had the entire male section to himself. Well, himself and PenPen. The penguin had shown up in a pet carrier courtesy of Kaji and was floating about in bliss. Shinji was still not quite sure if his avian roommate was representative of whatever a warm water penguin was supposed to be but all things considered he was a more than companionable bathing partner. Certainly more so than Misato was if the giggles and squirming sounds coming from the other side of the fence was any indication. All things considered Shinji was simply glad for the chance to rest and relax. Who knew when the next time he would get this kind of chance would be. Then again, going back to Tokyo-3 meant going back to Mayumi so perhaps on balance things were not so bad. He still needed to figure out a decent place for them to go have lunch. Maybe one of the more responsible adults in his life could help him with that.

On the other side of the fence Asuka was trying to decide if accepting Misato's offer of a massage was such a good idea after all. Sure the other woman was quite skilled at finding knots of tight muscles but dear god did her hands wander. If it was anyone else Asuka would have been looking at charges of murder, though perhaps not premeditated. Her reflexes were renowned for their sharpness after all.

"So, how have you and Rei been getting along?" Misato asked.

"Meh," Asuka said noncommittally. "She doesn't really say anything. If she doesn't talk, we can't hold a conversation."

"Have you tried starting one with her?"

"I guess, but she just answers whatever I say to her. She never takes the initiative." Asuka paused to think for a moment. "Just like a certain dummkopf. We sure they're not related?"

"Now Asuka," Misato chided. "Those two just aren't as outgoing as people like you and me. That just means we have to be the ones that take the initiative."

"Easier said than done," Asuka muttered. "But at what point does it become that they don't want to respond? For all I know the First doesn't want to become friends, or she doesn't even want to associate with me."

"You just need to be a bit patient with her," Misato said.

"That's what Amanda said," Asuka retorted. "You're gonna have to try harder than that to convince me."

"Well," Misato said, finger to chin. "I don't think Rei actually doesn't want to interact with other people. I really think she just doesn't know how. She never not responds to you, right?"

"I guess."

"Well," Misato said again. "Something tells me that if Rei didn't want to do something she would simply not do it. What does that tell you?"

Asuka sighed. "That either she doesn't mind talking to me, or that she just doesn't care either way."

"No need to be so pessimistic," Misato said, roughing up Asuka's hair.

"Ah, hey Misato! What are you doing!?"

"Oh just some skinship," Misato said with a laugh. "You need to relax more Asuka, enjoy what life has to offer."

"Pretty sure being sexually harassed by a middle aged woman doesn't count as one of life's joys," Asuka retorted.

"Middle aged? How rude, I'm not even thirty yet!"

"Yet?" Asuka teased. "You're running out of time, Misato. Better find someone that'll put up with your sloppiness before it's too late."

"Hmph! Maybe I should just claim Shinji-kun."

"Eww, you really are a middle aged pervert. Pervert!"

Back on his side Shinji pretended not to hear the two women. Something told him that that was the safest course of action right now, otherwise his little thermal expansion problem might get worse.

* * *

The door slid open to reveal a relatively cheerful Misato. "Morning Amanda!"

The auditor-general looked up at her friend. "I see you're sober this morning, Captain Katsuragi."

"Har har, laugh it up," Misato said, plopping into a seat without invitation. "You're the one that insists upon these once a month tête-à-têtes so I don't think you should be the one poking fun."

"Alright, if you want this to be all business," Amanda said, crossing her legs and clasping her fingers.

For some reason Misato felt a slight chill run down her spine. Maybe it was her instinct as a woman but she braced herself for what might end up as a rather unpleasant conversation. Misato mentally kicked herself for directing the mood this way.

"I've been going over the reports from Dr. Hayashima," Amanda began.

Misato visibly winced there.

"According to her report, after your initial opening up to Shinji you seem to have walled up again. You've become much less responsive to the doctor's prompts and while Shinji may not have noticed, Hayashima has."

"What do you want me to say?" Misato said. "That I'll try harder?"

"What I want," Amanda replied, "is for you to recognize that being his superior officer is different than being his guardian."

A bound volume of paper landed on Amanda's desk by Misato. The woman looked at it and flinched again. On the cover were the words Third Child Supervision Record.

"How did you-"

"Get a copy? I am NERV's auditor-general, Misato. There are very few things that I cannot get."

The captain looked at Amanda. "So, what am I not understanding?"

"Tell me, Captain Katsuragi. Are you Shinji Ikari's guardian because you consider that your duty as NERV's operations chief, or because of something you yourself lacked?"

"What?"

"You invited him into your home," Amanda stated. "How much thought did you give to the meaning of such an act."

Misato frowned. "What are you insinuating here? That I act without thinking?"

"When it comes to relations with your fellow human beings? Yes."

That was not the answer Misato was expecting and she stared at Amanda.

"I had hoped that by attending his therapy sessions you might gain a better understanding of the demons that haunt Shinji. The uncertainty that is reflected in your noted observations of him however suggest that has not been the case. Furthermore you have been uncooperative with attempts to allow Shinji to understand you better. If you are to act as a genuine guardian, that is simply unacceptable."

Misato shook her head. "You're not making any sense. What exactly do you want from me?"

"Why does Shinji pilot the Evangelion?"

"What?"

"Surely as his guardian you know what drives him to remain with NERV?"

"He, he pilots to protect his friends and those he cares about," Misato said.

Amanda rubbed her chin as if considering the answer. Then she shook her head.

"What?" Misato said. "You think you know something?"

"I know no more than you do," Amanda said. "In fact you should be perfectly qualified to understand him seeing the similarities in your respective backgrounds."

Misato's eyes narrowed. She was almost certain her friend was lying about the extent of her knowledge but something told her that was not the relevant point right now.

"Just what exactly are you insinuating here?" Misato demanded, losing her patience. "Why don't you just spit it out?"

"What did you want from your father?" Amanda asked in response.

"What? What does that have to do with anything?"

Amanda snorted. "That has to do with everything. Your entire childhood you felt ignored by your father and yet when he invited you to go with him to Antarctica you accepted. Why?"

Misato fell silent again as her best friend threw her most painful memories into her face.

"You wanted him to acknowledge you," Amanda pressed on. "You wanted him to pay attention to you. Now ask yourself, what has Shinji lacked for the last decade of his life?"

Misato blinked rapidly as her mind raced about. "You, you mean he's piloting for his father!?"

"So you really did not know," Amanda said with a sigh.

"How was I supposed to know that!?"

"Because you were supposed to pay attention to him in the therapy sessions!" Amanda snapped, throwing another packet of papers onto her desk and causing her friend to flinch for a third time. This one was titled Third Child Psychological Therapy Record. "Every session he makes mention of the fact that he grew up without his parents, about how he's always felt alone. He may no longer feel as isolated as before but that does not mean the void that was created in his childhood has been filled."

The silence lingered between them before Misato reached out and took the transcript of the therapy sessions. She stared at it, a sense of shame and even horror building as she contemplated just how much she had not listened to. A thought occurred to Misato and she looked back at her friend.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You'll need to be a bit more specific," Amanda said. "I'm doing a lot of things right now."

The response may have sounded flippant but Amanda said it with absolute seriousness. It was a tone Misato knew all too well. So she answered the other woman's question with another one of her own.

"Why are you trying to get me and Shinji-kun closer together?"

"Because as one of the very few people in the world there for him, you hold far greater influence over his mental stability and maturation than you seem to realize. Because if you continue to push him away even as he reaches out to you, he may very well reach the conclusion that you do not want him around. Do you have any idea what the consequences of such a sense of rejection could do to him?"

That Misato did and she flinched again. That was turning into a recurring theme with today's meeting.

"If you're so worried, then why entrust me with this?" she asked. "Why haven't you and Soren taken him in instead? You did a hell of a job with Asuka back in Germany after all."

"Because neither Soren nor I can provide either of the pilots with an actual home," Amanda stated. "Asuka despite everything still has a family to go back to. Her father may not have known how to show it but he does genuinely care for her and with a bit of prodding they can reconcile. Hell, she even has a stepmother and stepsister that would welcome her more fully if they could just start talking to each other. Shinji however only has what family you can provide him."

Misato blinked, still confused. "Wait, why can't you and Soren provide a home?"

Amanda sighed. "What do you plan to do after the fight against the Angels is over?"

"Umm, I'm, actually not sure," Misato admitted.

"Well in my case I'll likely get reassigned to somewhere else by the UN," Amanda said with a completely straight face. "If I'm lucky it'll be back at NERV-Berlin and Soren and I can stay together for our respective jobs. Who knows, we might even be able to find the time to have kids of our own. Are you really suggesting that we should be dragging Shinji along with us, transplanting him to a foreign country away from all the friends that he has made here?"

That, was a fair point, Misato conceded mentally. "So, you're saying that you expect me to look after Shinji-kun even after he no longer needs to pilot the EVA."

"Is that not the case?" Amanda said. "Cause if I'm wrong tell me now so I can try to find Shinji a new guardian who will look after him afterward." The other woman scowled. "Did you really not give any thought to the future when you took him in?"

This time it was Misato that sighed. "Alright, I get it, I don't think things through. And no, you don't need to find someone else to look after Shinji-kun. I'll be there for him, for however long he needs me."

"Hmm, should I prepare the adoption papers for you?"

"Bwwhat?"

Amanda cocked her head to the side. "Oh? Is that not what you are preparing to offer him?"

"I-I said I'd act as his guardian! When did this turn into him becoming my son!?"

"And I thought I had made clear that what Shinji needs is not a guardian, but a family," Amanda replied.

Misato looked at Amanda flatly. She then sighed again.

"Let's take things one step at a time," she said. "I don't think we should be springing this on him completely out of the blue. Hell, I didn't want this to get sprung on me completely out of the blue either!"

"Just keep it in mind, the difference between being a guardian and being family," Amanda said. "If you can imagine yourself fulfilling that role, then don't hesitate to be family instead of simply playing at it."

Another sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Though if we're talking about pilots needing families, doesn't that hold for Rei as well? Or are you going to suggest I adopt her too?"

"Hmm, interesting that you should bring that up," Amanda said.

Misato looked at her friend questioningly. "Oh?"

"You recall that Shinji asked me to look into her background?"

The other woman nodded. "Did you find something?"

"Sort of. The records are, classified to an extent that I can't get access without making it very obvious that that's what I'm trying to do. Considering the sensitivity of the matter that would be a very bad idea. I did however find a very interesting reference to a Yui Ayanami."

"What? Ayanami Yui? But, I thought the commander took his wife's name?"

"And that appears true enough, yet the birth certificate for Yui Ayanami matches the details of Yui Ikari. Might they be two people with the same first name, same birth date, and same place of birth? A possibility. Yet if so the coincidence is remarkable, to say the least."

"Yes, yes it is," Misato said thoughtfully. "It's still not conclusive though."

"I agree. Yet there does seem to be some kind of relation between Rei and Shinji's mother. The question is why is it being suppressed. I think you'll agree that until we learn more we should keep this from Shinji."

"Yes," Misato agreed. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to hope he doesn't remember to ask about this anytime soon. At least not until you can dig up more."

"We'll see," Amanda said. "For now though I suggest you figure out exactly what Shinji means to you."

Misato smiled wirily. "Understood. And Amanda? You can be a real bitch at times."

"But that doesn't keep me from being right."

* * *

To Shinji's surprise when he got up to make breakfast Misato was already up. Furthermore it was the weekend and he was fairly certain his guardian was not on duty today. Then there was the cup of coffee in her hands in place of her customary beer. The scene was surreal enough for Shinji to stand there gapping for a few seconds.

"Hmm? Oh, you're up Shinji-kun?"

"Uh yes, Misato-san. And, so are you."

Misato smiled wirily. "Hey now, what's with that look?"

"Well, normally you don't get up until, noon? On the weekends at least."

"Hmm, tempting, oh so tempting," Misato said. "But some things you can only do with a clear head, and a raging headache in the morning is not exactly conducive to that."

"Oh? Did you have something you needed to do today?" Shinji asked.

"Something like that." Misato straightened and gazed at Shinji intently with a serious expression. "I thought you and I should have a little chat before your date."

Shinji felt his face redden but he did not deny the assertion. That would have been disrespectful to Mayumi to say the least and dishonest with his own budding feelings. Instead he took a seat opposite of Misato.

"Alright, Misato-san," he said. "What did you want to talk about?"

Misato blinked but then smiled. "My aren't you growing up fast. Here's the thing Shinji-kun. You're still 14 and despite everything that we've asked you to do, you aren't an adult yet. Or rather, it is my hope that you have a long life ahead of you in spite of the crap we've thrown your way."

Shinji nodded. At least that much was straightforward.

"So the question that I have, and really the question that you should be asking yourself is, are you serious?"

Shinji blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"About this Mayumi girl," Misato clarified. "I've read Section-2's reports." The captain cracked an understanding smile at Shinji's frown. "Sorry Shin-chan, comes with the job and the very big paycheck I might add. Anyway I have seen the reports and you've been spending a lot of time with her. I don't have a problem with it, but I want to make sure you know just what it is you want from Mayumi-san and what you want to give her in return."

The blush was still there but Shinji did not look away. "I, think I like Mayumi-san. And, I think she likes me too. I enjoy being with her, she's a kind person."

Misato rubbed her chin in contemplation. "I see. That's a good foundation, but it really is only a start. If you want to really stay with her though, you need to really know her and let her know you. Do you think you could become that close to someone, Shinji-kun? Make the effort to be that close?"

For all his timid nature Shinji was actually quite self-aware. Even now there was a subtle whispering, soft and barely audible, in the back of his head that seemed to go over all the things that could go wrong whenever he talked to someone. It was growing quieter over time though there were moments when it prickled at him more insistently. Right now was one such moment and Shinji wondered if Misato was actually aware of this voice of self-doubt that plagued him. She might be, she had been sitting in on his therapy sessions after all.

"I think I can," Shinji finally said. "I mean, I know that sometimes I'll be hurt, but that doesn't mean I don't want to become closer to other people. If I don't make the effort myself though, I can't blame anyone but myself if I stay lonely."

Misato set aside her cup of coffee and gave Shinji a curious look. Then she was out of her seat and swung around the table. Before Shinji knew what was going on he found his head once more cradled in the woman's very ample bosom.

"I'm proud of you Shinji-kun," Misato said, "and I promise I'll be here for you for as long as you need."

"Umm, thanks Misato-san," Shinji managed to get out, his embarrassment subdued just enough for him to enjoy the warmth of the embrace.

Perhaps it was because both were caught up in the moment that neither noticed the front door opening. The two girls that walked in both froze at the sight before them though from there their reactions differed. Rei cocked her head to the side and simply looked on while an exasperated look crossed Asuka's face.

"Oi, Misato, stop indulging in your shota tendencies and let Baka Shinji go so he can make breakfast."

"How rude," Misato said, releasing her now considerably more flushed charge nonetheless. "What's wrong with giving my boy a hug?"

Asuka's eyes narrowed. "First of all, Shinji's not your son, unless you two filed adoption papers when I wasn't looking." Her glance fell to the coffee mug. "And second of all, is that from my bean stash!?"

"You mean you don't leave that bag here for all of us to share?" Misato said innocently.

"No! I leave it here because I don't have a coffeemaker at my place! Do you have any idea how much those beans cost!?"

"Actually I know they cost you nothing," Misato replied cheerfully, "since you pilfered them from Amanda's stash."

Asuka's jaws dropped open.

"Didn't think I knew that did you?" Misato said with a wide grin.

Taking the opportunity presented by the redhead's momentary shock Shinji made his escape to the kitchen and busied himself with cooking. He had gotten a later start than he had expected and with Asuka and Rei already here would need to keep things simple in the rush. The girls would have to fend for themselves for lunch as he did not have time to prepare something beforehand. He wondered idly whether they would make it till dinner.

That concern was soon put to rest as when he prepared to leave the doorbell rang. Opening the front door, Shinji found Amanda and Soren standing before him.

"Amanda-san, Reimer-san," Shinji greeted.

"Hello Shinji, are Asuka and Rei here?"

Shinji nodded and stepped aside to let them enter. "Thank you again for your restaurant recommendation Reimer-san."

"It was no trouble," Soren said with a nod of his own.

"Yo, Amanda, Soren!" Misato greeted. "Right on time."

Asuka peered over curiously from her seat on the sofa while Rei continued reading her chosen book.

"Anyway, don't let us keep you Shinji," Amanda said with a wink. "You've got a date today don't you?"

Shinji smiled ruefully. "Is there anyone that doesn't know?"

"Wait what, since when did you have a date?" Asuka demanded, standing up on the sofa now.

Amanda chuckled. "That answer your question? Now, hurry along. Don't worry, we've got something to keep Asuka distracted. Oh and don't worry about dinner tonight."

"Oh uh, thank you Amanda-san," Shinji said.

After grabbing his cello Shinji made his exist. As the door closed behind him Shinji could make out a rather interesting conversation. He found it hard not to smile.

"Now Asuka, I think you've been abusing Shinji's hospitality a bit too much," Amanda's increasingly muffled voice sounded. "Today I'm going to check whether you still know how to navigate a kitchen."

"Gah," was the distinctly perturbed response.

"And while we're at it, it'll be a good chance to teach Rei a few tricks as well…"

* * *

Despite the city coming under attack by Angels Tokyo-3 was still a quite lively metropolis. People who worked directly for NERV tended to be well paid due to the hazards involved. NERV however could not do everything itself and so it contracted out quite a bit of work, creating a mini-boom as it sucked in money from all around the world and fed it into the wider Tokyo-3 economy and greater Japan to a lesser extent. All in all despite the risks of staying in a city that was the target of multi-story monsters those people that had not fled in the initial panic were doing quite well for themselves. The war against the Angels was also somewhat unconventional in that the industrial base that supported a modern economy was escaping more or less unscathed. This meant the continued flow of goods, including consumer products, and so the stores that lined downtown Tokyo-3 were filled with things for people to buy.

It was perhaps ironic then that the two people walking down those streets were more or less uninterested in participating in this mass consumerism. Shinji for most of his life did not really ever want anything whereas Mayumi had simply grown up without such an opportunity. The result was a sort of apathy towards the concept of window shopping. When out to buy something both would simply head to the store in question. As they were a bit early yet for lunch, Mayumi suggested they visit a nearby used bookstore that she frequented and the two made a beeline for it.

"I enjoyed the book you recommended," Shinji said, "Shiosai."

"Oh," Mayumi said with a light blush. "I'm glad. Mishima-sensei's other works tend to be more, morose."

"Yeah, that seems to be the case for a lot of Japanese authors," Shinji said.

"Well, the critically acclaimed ones at least," Mayumi said. "I think that's because critics and scholars focus on books that have certain types of complexity so they have work to do."

"That sounds about right," Shinji agreed. "I usually just read books for entertainment. Thinking too hard about them is, kind of tiring."

Mayumi giggled. "I suppose. But books often introduce new ideas. Reading helps one gain new experiences without ever leaving one's home."

"Maybe, but you do need to leave home to go get the books," Shinji joked as they reached the store.

Upon their entrance Mayumi was greeted by the old couple that ran the bookstore. Curious and knowing smiles were directed at Shinji and the young man bowed respectfully, earning him approving looks in the process. After a few words of pleasantry were exchanged the old man pressing into Mayumi's hands some sort of snack. Something told Shinji this was a fairly common occurrence.

"Umm so, you asked if I had any other recommendations for books," Mayumi said. "I'm not sure if Mishima-sensei's other works would be to your liking, but I think something from Kawabata Yasunari-sensei might be more fitting."

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." Shinji looked around, trying to figure out how the bookstore was actually organized.

"Umm, here, let me," Mayumi quickly said, apparently more familiar with the somewhat haphazard shelving of the place.

The girl proceeded to a corner of the shop and ran her hands along the books. Eventually she withdrew two and presented them to Shinji.

"Koto and Meijin. Umm, Koto deals with some more, mature issues but I think it brings up a few worthwhile points. Meijin deals with the anxieties of the past and the present."

Shinji accepted the two books and smiled wirily. "I ended up staying up all night to read the last book and barely got my homework done. I wonder if these two will also do that to me."

Mayumi giggled. "Oh, I used to do that a lot when I was younger. I've learned to, pace myself a bit more."

After paying for the books Shinji checked the time. It was nearly noon.

"Mayumi-san, should we go get some lunch now?"

The girl placed a hand on her stomach and nodded. "Yes, now would be about right."

As they headed towards the restaurant Shinji idly wondered how things were going back at the apartment. Soren was there so no one should starve, though the thought of Asuka or even Rei cooking still seemed foreign. How desperate Asuka was for dinner tonight should tell him how well things went.

* * *

The Katsuragi household's selection of cooking implements when Soren first visited was best described as nonexistent. Since Shinji's arrival however a steady increase in their quantity and quality had ensued and now the kitchen here was almost as well equipped as the German's own. The younger Ikari was still missing a few specialty instruments that Soren had brought over from Germany but otherwise there was little lacking. They certainly had enough for today's activities.

The two girls were standing behind Soren with varying degrees of patience. Asuka was fidgeting the most, the redhead never one for simply standing still and waiting for something to happen. Amanda looked composed but Soren knew his wife well enough that he was certain she was as impatient as her former charge. Rei on the other hand actually was composed. The girl's stoicism was easily a match for Soren's, though in her case it was more a lack of emotional responses than a firm control over them. Something else they needed to work on.

"In difference to Fraulein Ayanami's dietary preferences, we will make a vegetarian dish alongside the meat dish," Soren said. "As I have little doubt you have not forgotten your culinary skills since leaving Germany, Fraulein Langley, I trust I can leave the bratkartoffein to you?"

"Of course!" Asuka assured her mentor.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Amanda stated, causing the redhead to give her a playful glare to which the woman responded by sticking out her tongue.

"Now, Fraulein Ayanami," Soren said, paying the interplay no mind. "Have you ever had quiche before?"

Rei shook her head.

"Well, I hope it is to your liking. I already have a crust prepared so the only thing we need to worry about is the filling. We will be doing a mushroom and spinach quiche. If you could get those and the eggs."

The girl followed Soren's instructions wordlessly, pulling the ingredients from the fridge and laying them out on the counter. Soren unwrapped the crust and placed it in the oven. After setting the temperature he turned back to Rei.

"The filling of a quiche needs to be cooked a bit," he said as he pulled out a cutting board. "We will need to slice up the mushrooms and spinach beforehand though. Are you left handed or right handed?"

"Left," Rei answered.

There was a relatively decent selection of knives on hand and Soren selected a nakiri bocho with the appropriate edge. Some might have found the presence of such a blade odd seeing as both Misato was and Shinji was considered right handed but in truth Shinji was actually ambidextrous, a trait only a select few individuals were cognizant of. Nevertheless it was a fine blade, carbon steel instead of stainless and well cared for if the lack of rust was any indication. Shinji was obviously putting his stipend to practical use.

"Watch carefully," Soren instructed. "When cutting vegetables it is important that you guide the blade properly to avoid cutting yourself. Fold your fingers in like so and use that edge to act as a guard against the blade."

Deftly Soren demonstrated the technique as Rei observed intently.

"Now you try," Soren said, flipping the blade about and presenting it handle first to Rei.

The girl accepted it and gazed at the edge for a second or so before attempting to follow Soren's example. Her own movements were less fluid and precise but she was able to perform substantially the same motion. Soren nodded in approval, his mind split between watching over the girl, keeping track of how long the crust had been baking, and finally listening for any surprises from Asuka and his wife. Both knew how to cook and Amanda tended to not be too grudging about doing it but Asuka could be a tad lazy at times. Cooking required a decent amount of concentration, more than the girl was often used to applying thanks to her immense intellect. If nothing else this would be a good reminder that even the simple things in life required attention.

* * *

To Shinji's surprise the restaurant Soren had recommended was a small, somewhat out of the way place that seemed to cater almost entirely to the local residents. The chefs were apparently a father-son combo and a middle school girl from the neighborhood worked part time as the waitress. Coincidentally the girl even shared the same given name as Mayumi. The place was very clean and the atmosphere quite comfortable. The smells from the kitchen promised fare to match. All in all it was an intimate little restaurant that seemed perfect for their outing. Shinji idly wondered just how Soren had found this place.

"This is really nice," Mayumi said after they had ordered.

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. "And it's not that far away either. We'll have to come back sometime."

Mayumi smiled happily. "Of course."

"Oh right," Shinji said, pulling out an envelope from his bag. "Here are the photos from the trip to the marine preserve."

Mayumi accepted the offered stack and flipped through them with a smile. Her memories of that day were still clear but it never hurt to have reminders, especially seeing as that day was when she and Shinji had taken their next tentative step closer together. One in particular stood out, a group shot with all of the youngsters in it. She recalled that the man that had extended the original invitation to Shinji had taken it for them.

"You have a lot of friends," Mayumi said with a smile.

"I've been lucky since I came to Tokyo-3," Shinji said. "I've met a lot of good people that have helped me along the way."

"I'm glad to hear that."

As they waited the two chatted comfortably, talking more about friends and school before finally wandering over to the future. Mayumi was studying for the entrance exams of a few high schools though which one she entered would be subject to both her passing those exams and what scholarships she could win. The same was likely to be true if she decided to try for university though the girl mentioned the possibility of trying to find work after graduating high school. Shinji felt a slight pang of guilt. He had rarely thought about the future before, just going through life without any real motivation or ambition. Now he was realizing that having that option at all was actually a luxury. Another reason not to squander the chances to come to him from now on.

The boy momentarily wondered whether Amanda had gotten anywhere with his request about scholarships Mayumi could apply for. He had considered offering to help cover Mayumi's education expenses but ultimately dismissed that line of thought. It was far too early for such a gesture. Perhaps, if they got closer, the offer would be considered a gift instead of construed as some sort of bribe. Their friendship was budding and strong but Shinji was beginning to understand that an overgenerous spirit could also be an insensitive one. Mayumi was not someone he wanted to hurt with such callous selfishness.

Their food arrived and turned out to be as delicious as the smells from the back first hinted. Mayumi seemed especially enthused and Shinji smiled at her carefree happiness. She truly did appreciate the simpler things in life and Shinji realized that he too should do so more. Before he had simply existed, not paying much attention to the world and shutting himself off. But now he had people around him who were willing to share their lives with him and ever so slowly he gained a greater appreciation of the joy that simply living could bring. Shinji found that he simply could not go back to his old way of living. He would miss these sensations too much.

"That was delicious," Mayumi said as they left the restaurant.

"I'm glad you liked it," Shinji said. "We can come back sometime when you're free again."

Mayumi smiled. "I'd like that very much." She then started blushing. "Though, umm, maybe we could make our own lunch sometime? I've already had some of your cooking, and I'd, like to share with you some of mine."

Shinji returned the smile. "I'd like that a lot, Mayumi-san."

"Alright. I'll do my best, Shinji-"

Mayumi gasped and as Shinji looked at her in confusion the girl's body convulsed. Suddenly a spat of blood erupted from her mouth and she crumbled.

"Mayumi-san!"

Shinji rushed over and grabbed hold of her, the girl's body shaking. She coughed again, more blood spilling out of her mouth.

"Someone! Help!"

The father from the restaurant charged out from the front door and gasped at the sight. He quickly knelt at the two teens' side trying to see where the girl was hurt. Suddenly more blood leaked out from her arms and a gash seemed to split open. The man tore off his apron and used it to try to close the wound. His efforts came for naught as other cuts began opening.

"Ikari-san."

Looking up Shinji saw several men standing over him.

"Section-2," one said, flashing the red NERV ID card. "What's the situation?"

"Mayumi-san, she just started bleeding," Shinji said frantically. "We need to get her to a hospital!"

The man nodded and pulled out a radio. "Car, now."

Seemingly out of nowhere an armored SUV pulled into the back road and skidded to a stop. Two of the other agents picked up the girl as gently as they could and hauled her into the back. Shinji followed without thinking, not letting go of the girl's hand. The lead agent bowed to the restaurant owner before jumping in himself.

"Hospital," he snapped.

Even as the car raced out onto the streets sirens began blaring. The radio in the car crackled.

"A Detachment, retrieve pilots and bring them to HQ," a voice ordered. "An Angel has been detected."

The agent cursed but responded nonetheless. "Understood." He turned to the driver. "Get us to HQ."

"But Mayumi-san needs a doctor now!" Shinji protested from the back.

"We can get her to the medical wing in the Geofront," the agent said. "I assure you, Ikari-san, that she will get help." The agent picked up the radio again. "This is detachment A, we have a civilian that is accompanying Pilot Ikari that needs immediate medical assistance. I need a team to meet us down in the Geofront."

"Detachment A, clarify, who is this civilian?"

"Yamagishi Mayumi," the agent said. "She was with Pilot Ikari on a social outing."

There was a lingering silence at that answer. The response that finally came however was more encouraging.

"Acknowledged. Medical team will be on standby."

* * *

"What's the current status?" Misato snapped as she entered the command deck.

"The Matsushiro site is reporting that the Eighth Angel has awakened and is attempting to escape containment," Aoba reported. "They are requesting immediate deployment of the EVAs to stop it."

"Damn, so much for trying to study it," Misato said. "Alright, get the pilots ready. We may not be able to stop it at Matsushiro, but we can probably intercept it enroute to Tokyo-3."

"Section-2 is bringing in the pilots," Makoto said. "Wait, there's a complication with the Third Child."

"What!?"

"He's, he was with a friend," Makoto reported, relaying the request from the onsite agents. "Yamagishi Mayumi. She appears to be in need of medical attention. They're requesting a medical team meet them."

Misato's eyes widened as she looked at her subordinate in horror. If Mayumi really had been hurt Shinji was not going to take that well.

"Request granted," Misato said as she recovered. "What about the other pilots?"

"They're being brought to NERV by Sommer-san and her husband," Aoba said.

"Well one less thing to worry about, I think," Misato muttered, knowing that nothing would get between Soren when he was behind the wheels.

"The Angel has broken out of the Matsushiro facility!" Maya reported.

"Do we have a projected course?"

"The MAGI project Tokyo-3 as its destination with 62% confidence."

"Alright, guess that answers that question. Request the 597th to deploy. I want them to probe the Angel and try to get a read on its abilities."

"Aye ma'am."

* * *

"This is going to suck," Kayabuki muttered.

"Did you say something ma'am?" Kudo asked from his station.

"No, but since you're asking, what's the deployment status?"

"Most of the regiment is in position," Kudo said. "ETA until enemy contact, five minutes."

"Alright, make sure everyone understands that we're just here to take a few potshots and figure out what makes the thing tick. I don't want any stupid heroics, the kids might be able to get out of those alive but if an Angel decides that we're an appetizer before the main course we're boned."

"Yes ma'am."

Kayabuki's armored battalion was spread out across the fields to avoid giving the Angel a single target to wipe out. Concentrated fire was usually little more than a nuisance after all. The colonel fully expected to lose a few troops along the way but there was a very fine distinction between spending lives and wasting them.

"Second Company reports visual of the enemy," Kudo relayed.

"Yeah, I see it too," Kayabuki said as she watched her monitor.

One of the new toys her regiment had received from the UN were a half dozen MQ-1 Predator UAVs. The aerial view provided by the drones was an invaluable source of intelligence and its small size made it relatively hard to kill. Granted for all Kayabuki knew an Angel could pick the drone out from a thousand meters beneath and just pluck it out of the sky with its insane abilities but so far this one had left her drones alone. In fact it seemed to be on a warpath headed straight for Tokyo-3.

"They're requesting permission to engage ma'am," Kudo said.

"Probe and retreat," Kayabuki ordered. "They are NOT to linger about just to get extra shots in, one shot and they pull back."

"Yes ma'am."

As Kayabuki watched the tanks under her command began circling around the Angel. It was a strange one, its body a dark translucent shade that seemed to constantly shift. It possessed what appeared to be fins and looked almost as if it was swimming through the air. As her tanks opened fire the expected prismatic barrier appeared, preventing anything from actually hitting the Angel. And then it responded, a roar so shrill and piercing that Kayabuki instinctively clapped her hands over her hears. It did not help.

From the veering and crashing of her tanks her troops were being similarly affected, probably more so due to their closer proximity. The screech grew higher and higher in pitch until it was a pure constant note that rung in all of their heads. Kayabuki was sure a few of her officers were screaming in pain but any sounds they made were simply swamped out. It was only because her own eyes were still fixed on the video stream that she noticed several of her tanks literally erupt into pieces. There was no explosion, the armor simply shattered into shreds of metal. None of the ammo detonated but Kayabuki doubted that mattered. Those tanks were simply gone and likely so were their crew.

Suddenly the tone vanished and soon enough human cries echoed in her ears. Kayabuki dropped into her chair and put back on the headset.

"All tank companies report," she shouted.

It took a few repeats but eventually Kayabuki got answers. After warning off the survivors from taking any more shots at the Angel she turned to her subordinate.

"You okay there captain?"

"Yes ma'am," Kudo said somewhat shakily. He was still responding though so Kayabuki cut him some slack.

"Alright, organize the retreat, I'm going to get on the line to NERV and inform them of what we're dealing with."

To his credit Kudo did not protest the withdrawal. "Yes ma'am."

* * *

"Okay, based off of Colonel Kayabuki's report that Angel attacks using sound," Misato said to the pilots. "It hit some of her tanks with a pure tone of immense amplitude and ripped them apart. There's a buildup that can also incapacitate you, but that might just be a side effect."

"So what, we hit it from long range?" Asuka asked.

"Yes and no," Misato said. "We've determined that the range of its shriek is about thirty kilometers. One of you will stay back and provide fire support. The other two will move in for close range combat."

"So, who's doing what?"

"Rei," Misato said. "You'll take sniper support. The positron cannon isn't ready yet so you'll have to make do with a conventional cannon. Asuka, Shinji, remember that Rei's shots won't get through if you two can't get close enough or stay lucid enough to erode the Angel's AT-field."

"Roger," the two girls said.

"Umm, Misato-san, how is Mayumi-san?" Shinji asked.

"The doctors are looking after her," Misato assured her charge.

"Soren is also watching over her," Amanda added. "Don't worry, she's in good hands."

"Alright," Shinji said. "Thank you."

"C'mon, let's get going," Asuka said impatiently. "The sooner we kick this Angel's ass the sooner you can get back to your girlfriend, right Shinji?"

"Yeah, that's right," Shinji said.

Misato was a bit taken aback by the intensity of the boy. While he had never shirked his duty she could not recall Shinji ever being eager for battle. Even if it was so he could return to Mayumi's side, that he was preparing to go out there and kill for it was a new and less than pleasant development. A quick glance at Amanda confirmed that the auditor had similar thoughts. They would need to have a talk with him after this was over.

"Ma'am, the EVAs have arrived at their designated launch points," Makoto reported.

"Good. All of you, come back to us alive. That's an order."

The responses from the pilots were of varying levels of enthusiasm but Misato did not doubt they would do their best. Deep down they were good kids. That their lives were subjected to all this pain spoke volumes about the unfairness of the world.

Once deployed the EVAs moved to their respective positions. In the outskirts of the city Rei did not have far to travel and was the first ready. Her location also gave her ample access to backup power cords should the need arise. Asuka and Shinji, out beyond the city limits, only had a single hastily jerry rigged extension cord each. If they lost power they would almost certainly need to retreat and allow the Angel into range of the city. Seeing as solid ground only acted as an even better medium for the transmission of sound, the Geofront and the shelters were hardly any protection from a battle aboveground.

The Angel was still charging toward Tokyo-3, having ignored the retreating tanks after its initial response. Asuka and Shinji tried to remain inconspicuous, or as much as giant brightly colored robots could manage. Neither really expected Sandalphon to just let them run up and stab its core but if they could achieve some element of surprise they might get close enough before the Angel counterattacked. That proved a tad optimistic as the Angel ground to a halt and turned directly towards Unit 01.

"It's spotted him!" Asuka cried out.

"I'm going in," Shinji said.

His EVA leapt up and charged towards the Angel, rifle blazing away. The AT-field stopped all of the shots and the Angel roared, the high pitch shriek scrambling the two pilots' senses. Unit 01 nearly tripped as Shinji struggled to maintain his balance.

From the distance a bolt slashed through the air before smashing into Sandalphon's AT-field. More followed as Rei provided fire support for her pilots and they at least succeeded in distracting the Angel. The shrieking siren died down, allowing Shinji to close in once more. And then a wave of pressure smashed into Unit 01, sending him tumbling back.

"That answers whether the shriek is intentional or night," Amanda muttered as she watched.

"Damage?" Misato queried.

"The chest armor is slightly buckled but it seems to have held," Maya reported. "Feedback to the pilot spiked but has normalized already."

"He's keeping his cool," Misato said approvingly.

"Baka Shinji," Asuka muttered as she made her own approach.

As the pilot with the highest synchronization rating Asuka was able to push her AT-field further than the other two pilots. That meant in theory she would not need to get as close to start eroding the Angel's AT-field. Not as close however meant little if the absolute distance was still a ways away. The Angel turned about and the air rippled around it as it fired another pulse of sound. Trusting her instincts the redhead threw her EVA to the side and felt a slight buzzing race past. Landing gracefully if not quite daintily, assuming such was even possible with a giant mech, Asuka dashed in before the Angel could fire again.

Shinji had recovered by now and was laying down some covering fire of his own. Ineffective though conventional weapons were, they at least could draw the Angel's attention and the creature seemed unsure which of its attackers it should deal with first. Its solution was to unleash another shriek and once more Asuka and Shinji staggered at the pounding in their heads. Instead of firing another sonic pulse however the Angel charged, heading straight for Shinji.

"Shinji-kun! Watch out!" Misato shouted over the radio.

The Third Child's vision was still a bit fuzzy but a giant monster barreling down upon one was hard to miss. Case in point all of his shots hit dead center, first sparking against the AT-field and then actually scoring on the Angel itself as the distance closed. The Angel roared again and Shinji's rifle became a mess of shredded parts. Still the Angel came charging in and the boy quickly drew his prog knife. The blade hummed as it activated and he stood his ground, preparing to meet the charge.

Suddenly more rounds impacted into the Angel's side, causing the beast to stagger.

"Ayanami!" Shinji cried out appreciatively.

"Thank her later!" Asuka snapped even as she raced over. "Get in there and gut the thing!"

Shinji needed no further prompting and leapt forth. Again the Angel let out a shriek but it was abruptly cut off as Rei unloaded more rounds from afar. Without the crippling sound hounding him Shinji finally got into melee range and drove his knife in with a roar of his own.

Kilometers away and inside the Geofront, a font of blood erupted from a patient doctors were frantically trying to stabilize. Watching from the side, Soren grimaced.

Asuka was now also upon the Angel and she drew the pair of knives from her shoulder pylons. A quick flick sliced through one of the Angel's limbs, amputating it. The cry from the Angel this time was of pain and rage. The sound was almost music to the pilots' ears. Shinji slammed his knife into the Angel's head, ripping clean through its throat while Asuka stabbed its sides. Rei was left with little to do as her fellow pilots were too close for further fire support. All the same the other two were having little trouble dismembering the Angel.

"Goddamn it, where's the core!?" Asuka cried.

"What?" Misato said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't find the core!" Asuka snapped back. "I've cut through half its damn stomach but there's nothing there!"

Unit 01 finished snapping off the thing's head and let it drop.

"Asuka's right," Shinji said. "This is weird, we sure this is an Angel?"

Misato glanced at Ritsuko.

"Positive," the doctor said. "It is a blue pattern waveform."

"Well where is the core then?" Asuka demanded.

"It just hatched," Misato pointed out. "Could that mean its core may still be underdeveloped?"

"So what, we're supposed to just dig through its body until we find it?"

"Maybe," Misato said. "I don't think the Angel's going to be doing any resisting."

That was true enough. The Angel was a bleeding mess with its main body ripped open and most of its limbs chopped off. There was no indication of any regeneration either, which also set this Angel apart. As Misato contemplated what to do next a loud beep sounded next to her. Amanda pulled out her cell and answered in a hushed tone. It did not stay hushed for long.

"WHAT!?"

Misato snapped around and stared at her friend. Amanda was silent listening for a few moments before turning to her friend.

"It's Soren," she said. "He says that Yamagishi's condition has deteriorated, severely."

Misato's eyes widened. "How severely?"

Amanda grimaced. "How fast can we get Shinji back there?"

The captain's jaw worked soundlessly for a few moments as she absorbed the full implications of those words. She spun around to face the dais.

"Commander, I request permission to withdraw Unit 01 momentarily."

Ikari looked down at the woman. "For what purpose?"

"A friend of your son is in terminal condition. The Angel is currently neutralized and Asuka is onsite to handle it if it attempts to revive. I believe that the risk of withdrawing him to give him a chance to, be with her, would pose minimal risk."

The commander stared at Misato for several moments before tilting his head ever so slightly.

"Permission granted."

Now that was a surprise, Amanda mused. Then again Gendo Ikari was not an entirely flat character. His love for his wife was genuine if rather twisted and this might be one such moment where that sentimentality was influencing him. It would not last long however and any goodwill he had managed to garner from this act would be quickly undone once the truth about Mayumi was revealed. A part of the woman hated the way she was manipulating everyone like this but that self-loathing was a small price for her to pay considering what was at stake. So long as she did not go overboard with her moral compromises at least.

* * *

Shinji raced through the corridors barely noticing his security detail keeping pace. As he rounded the corner he caught sight of Soren standing protectively over the door into the hospital suite. Several doctors and nurses were standing about trying to get back in but the German remained steadfast.

"Reimer-san!" Shinji cried out.

"Herr Ikari," the man said.

The Section-2 agents began pushing back the medical personnel. They still protested but these people were an actual authority.

"In, now," Soren said, moving slightly aside of the door.

Shinji needed no further urging and charged through. The door slammed shut behind him but the boy paid it no mind. His focus was squarely on the shaking figure sitting up on the bed.

"Mayumi!"

The figure jerked. Shinji took a step forward when suddenly he ran into a solid barrier.

"Don't get any closer!" Mayumi cried, her voice sounding hoarse and strangled.

Shinji's eyes widened as he pressed his hands came into contact with a most familiar wall.

"Mayumi, what's going on?"

"Please, don't look at me Shinji-kun," Mayumi pleaded, drawing herself in. "I, I remember now. I, I'm a monster. So please, go!"

The boy stood still as the shock wore away at him. The emotion that eventually won out however was not fear, or at least not fear for himself.

"Mayumi, what are you saying!? You're not a monster! Please, let me through!"

"No! It's better this way! I don't want you to see me like this, please!"

"It doesn't matter what you look like!" Shinji cried back. "It doesn't even matter what you are! You're still Mayumi to me and that's never going to change!"

The girl's body was shaking and she toppled over. The sliding sheets revealed her flesh, ridden with red cracks throughout her body. She screamed as another gush of blood erupted.

"Mayumi!" Shinji screamed, slamming himself at the AT-field. "Please, let me through!"

The girl screamed again, not even able to hear the boy through her pain. Shinji's own desperation was growing and he punched at the AT-field frantically. The sensation was so familiar and yet now, here, outside an EVA there was not the effect of slow wearing away that accompanied his contact.

"Mayumi, please!" Shinji cried. "You're not alone! I'm right here with you! I-I love you Mayumi, so please don't leave me alone like this!"

The girl cried out again but now her head turned ever so slightly to gaze at the boy. Gone were the soft brown eyes that Shinji remembered. Instead a frenzied red pair stared at him. Despite this Shinji did not flinch, for he saw the ocean of sorrow within them.

"Mayumi," Shinji said. "I'll be with you no matter what, so please, let me."

And then the field collapsed and Shinji almost fell flat on his face. He recovered from his stumble however and was immediately at the bedside. The boy could have done any number of things from holding her hand to simply standing there. Shinji took Mayumi into his arms instead and drew her into an embrace.

"Don't ever say you're alone," he said. "Please, don't say that. You've got your siblings, you've got Fuuka-san, and you have me. You have me and my heart. So don't think that you'll ever be alone."

The tears that Mayumi no longer thought she could shed began welling up and despite the pain she draped a single arm around Shinji. Mayumi let her head rest on Shinji's shoulder, her strength slowly draining away.

"I'm sorry Shinji-kun," she said. "I-I couldn't keep our promise."

"What are you saying?" Shinji said soothingly. "You're still here, right? We'll go back home, and I'll listen to your piano again. And I'll play my cello for you."

The girl's body began heating up literally till the point where her flesh was scolding to the touch. Shinji however refused to let go, enduring the pain as he held his love.

"We've got our whole lives in front of us," he continued. "You and me. I'll give you a family just as loving as what you have now. I'll never leave your side Mayumi, you'll always have me when you need me."

The tears that ran down Mayumi's cheeks never fell far enough to soak the sheets, they simply evaporated as her body, the core, began to burn itself out. But even so Mayumi held onto Shinji's words for they were the only things that kept her soul from breaking.

"I'm glad to have met you Shinji," she whispered. "Thank you."

Her body was beginning to feel dull. Mayumi allowed herself to embrace all the sensations she could still feel, the tearing pain, the heavy pressure, but most of all the gentle warmth of being in the arms of the boy she loved and that loved her back. As her eyes closed a smile remained on her face, herself to the very end. And then, her body crumbled and scattered into scarlet dust.

Shinji stood there, his arms still even as the form they held gave way. He looked at down in horror as the sheets and clothing slid down. Amongst the cloth was a single photo, the one showing them when they all went to the marine preserve. The one where Mayumi was smiling so happily. He screamed.

End of Chapter 11

I introduced Mayumi in chapter 4, though by all rights I should have done so in chapter 3. What ultimately happens to her this chapter was planned out since back then, though the final scene itself underwent revision and changes. Originally I was going to reuse the scene where she jumps off the school, but that didn't quite work with the leadup I wanted. I also wanted to at least let Mayumi be in Shinji's arms when she passed away. She may be a fictional character, but what she represents is a reflection of reality and a very real pain.

More will be revealed about Mayumi in later chapters and her legacy will most definitely be felt throughout the story. Hell, I've devoted time in at least seven chapters to her development and effect on Shinji. To just treat her as a motivator would be impolite to the character and I want to make sure that the impression she has made on all of the characters continues to be realistically and tastefully felt.

All in all I'm a bit proud of this arc. It took considerable effort to pull off and I think I developed the two's relationship in a realistic manner, beyond the rushed intro. I tried to build in a fair amount of foreshadowing and provide cues for events that happen in later chapters all throughout. If one looks back, you're likely to find a seemingly offhand statement or line that hints at consequences or events several chapters ahead. Or at least that was the intent, how successful I was is ultimately determined by the readers. The real question is whether I built in enough cues for other plotlines that have yet to unfold. We'll see.

Shinji has now shown that he is able to come out of his shell and reach out to others. That's major progress from the perspective of the sidesteppers, except that he has now gotten very badly burned, figuratively and literally, as a result.

I think it's a given that Amanda and Soren are extremely unhappy about this turn of events. They'll be given even more cause to be unhappy next chapter and you can rest assured that they will be making their unhappiness well felt by those they consider responsible for what happened to Mayumi. True, they blame themselves to a certain extent, but Mayumi does not exist in a vacuum. Even if their meddling allowed the chain of events that created Mayumi, they did not commit the acts that induced Mayumi's condition. And let us not forget just how dangerous a certain male pilot was as a child when he was truly, genuinely enraged and motivated. The level of mayhem that Shinji could dish out while in Unit 01 is nothing compared to what a properly motivated and prepared Soren can inflict. There's a reason that Soren was able to marry the favored granddaughter of a SEELE councilmember after all, and it sure wasn't because of his artistic achievements.

Minor asides, while I borrowed the Yamagishi matron's first name from Persona 3, she is not actually Yamagishi Fuuka. The ages don't line up for one. That is not to say I didn't try to channel some Fuuka, though this one is not a lethal chef. She can be considered the first "named" character that isn't a sidestepper. There will be others, that's somewhat inevitable, but unlike the sidesteppers they will all basically be side characters. There are also two other Easter eggs that I intentionally sprinkled into this chapter, but I'll let you guys ferret them out.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Kyrie

"Fan out," Soren ordered.

The detail assigned to the Third Child obeyed without hesitation, which only added to the confusion of the doctors and nurses present. After all Soren was supposed to be a mere musician, what was he doing ordering around a bunch of hardened security operatives charged with protecting one of the most important people alive? Then again Aramaki had chosen these particular agents with great care and it was not for nothing that those assigned as part of the Children's permanent screens were known internally as Section-2 Detachment A.

"This area is now in lockdown," one of the agents said to the medical personnel still lingering about. "All of you need to leave, now."

The doctor in charge still seemed ready to protest, his sense of duty not allowing him to simply abandon a patient in such dire straits.

"Doctor," Soren said before he could start back up again. "Your patient is beyond help. Let her at least spend her last moments with the one she loves."

The doctor looked at Soren before sighing helplessly. He then nodded to the others and they took their leave, not yet understanding that by doing so they were likely saving their own lives.

Looking about, Soren was quick to notice the systematic blacking out of this area of the shelter's security systems. It was likely an unintended side effect of the AT-field Mayumi was now generating, reflecting her desire to hide what was happening to her from those she cared about. All the better if what was about to happen had fewer witnesses. Soren had no doubt that a kill team would be arriving soon enough to terminate the poor girl. He had no intention of letting them through however and if he needed to pull out the stops to give Shinji the time he needed to say goodbye then so be it. The boy was owed that much at least.

Back on the command deck events were unfolding about as Soren was expecting.

"We've got a pattern blue!" Aoba suddenly shouted. "It's located, inside the Geofront!?"

"What!?" Misato exclaimed.

"MAGI is localizing," Maya said. "It's, in the emergency shelters? The medical wing?"

"Shinji-kun!" Misato snapped.

"Calm down Misato," Ritsuko said. "We need to react, not panic."

"Right, okay, he's with Soren and he also has his guards with him, he should be okay. Do we know exactly where the pattern is?"

"It's in, room 304," Maya said, her confusion evident.

"What!? That's impossible!" Misato cried out. "Why would the pattern emerge…there…"

The realization slowly sunk in and the personnel on the command deck exchanged horrified looks.

"Sympathetic wounds," Ritsuko said. "That's why the girl was hospitalized to begin with, her body is reflecting the wounds inflicted upon the Angel that she's connected to."

"But we just, beat it into a, oh my god," Misato uttered as she looked at the projection displaying the badly mauled Angel. "Asuka, stop cutting up the Angel now!"

The EVA on the screen came to a stop.

"What's going on?" the redhead asked.

"The situation is clear enough," a cold voice declared above them and the others looked up at Ikari. "I am declaring an alpha-blue. Dispatch squad four to terminate the target."

Misato blanched as her superior officer ordered the deployment of one of NERV's kill teams. "But sir, your son is in there now!"

"The purpose of NERV is to destroy the Angels at all cost," Gendo said coldly. "The order has been given."

Misato looked near ready to charge up the dais and strangle the commander with her bare hands when Amanda caught her by the shoulder. The elder Ikari had done a splendid job of destroying any goodwill he had gained with his previous permission for Shinji's withdrawal, Amanda noted. Still, she would need to make sure things did not spiral completely out of control just yet. Ikari would get his due, when the time came.

"The situation has not yet deteriorated to that point," the German woman whispered. "Soren and Shinji's Section-2 screen are down there and they won't just roll over."

"But-"

"Trust me," Amanda hissed.

Misato regarded her friend for a brief second before nodding sharply. The conviction in the other woman's eyes was absolute and so the only thing the captain could do was pray that her friend's confidence was not misplaced. In the meantime she needed to deal with an increasingly irritated redhead that was feeling ignored.

Down in the medical wing Soren checked the time. As expected NERV had reacted quickly to the AT-field manifestation and a group of heavily armed soldiers was advancing briskly toward him. Squad Four, nicknamed the Shinigami due to their number and prescribed duties. They were also the elder Ikari's personal instrument when it came to dealing with problems that required direct action. Neutralizing them was high on Soren's to-do list and this seemed as good an opportunity as any, assuming the AT-field held up. The last thing he needed was for NERV to detect a pattern orange field when he acted. His hand wandered to rest on his trusty pistol as he stepped forward to meet the soldiers. The tensing of the men made clear the motion had not gone unnoticed.

"Reimer-san," the senior NCO said. "Please stand aside."

For all the politeness the statement was a command, not a request. It was also directed at the Section-2 agents that were half behind cover but broadcasting their presence. As Soren considered what the most effective means of neutralizing these men might be he caught sight of a lone figure approaching them. He reacted.

"DOWN!"

It was perhaps impolite to open fire almost next to the other man's head. Gunfire was more akin to mini-explosions than the barks that they were portrayed with in most media. Hard to have the actors hold snarky conversations if the sound of shooting was of deafening volume. As it was the soldier that was now ducking was almost certain to suffer from some loss of hearing with Soren letting loose that close. That the German had put his Glock18 into full-auto pretty much guaranteed the reduction would be permanent, assuming they lived through this.

The other soldiers spun around, weapons raised and catching sight of the robed figure that triggered Soren's reaction. Somehow none of the other man's shots went wide and a tight cluster splattered against a multi-color barrier. The soldiers had seen enough recordings of battles between the EVAs and Angels and also the report on Soren's assassination attempt to quickly realize what they were now witnessing. None of them needed any prompting to open fire. The Section-2 agents onsite joined in and a barrage of gunfire slammed into the field.

Soren grimaced. The AT-field felt much more solid this time around and his attempts to neutralize it were proving insufficient. While the rate of fire his Glock18 produced was enough to chip away at the field, he was simply taking too long to reload. He needed one of the rifles the soldiers were using but the German doubted they would be so obliging as to hand one over. And then there was no time to worry about that as a flash of light erupted next to Soren. Having already sensed the energy buildup Soren threw himself to the side and just barely escaped the epicenter of a flare of plasma. The soldier that he had nearly deafened with his opening rounds was not nearly as lucky and his brief scream of pain was promptly cut off as his body erupted into flames. His weapon clattered onto the ground and Soren scooped it up, ignoring the searing heat. Taking aim, he poured an entire clip into their attacker and finally managed to puncture the AT-field. Unfortunately the woman seemed to take that as the signal to charge forth.

Back on the command deck none of the cameras were yet working so the personnel were blind to what was actually happening down there. The sensors however were telling them that something very wrong was happening.

"AT-field detected!" Aoba shouted. "Pattern orange!"

"What!?"

The cry of surprise came simultaneously from several people present, all outranking the first lieutenant in one way or another. Fortunately it did not fall upon him to answer them.

"It's coming from the same medical wing," Maya said frantically. "The strength is, incredible, I don't even-wait, pattern blue AT-field has disappeared! We've got video again!"

That last part was only partially true as in the shirt skirmish most of the cameras in that part of the shelters had been trashed, some by stray fire and others intentionally by Soren. The only one that still worked was pointed at the back of the robed figure and the only detail they could make out was a head full of brown hair. Soren and one of the soldiers had gotten into melee range and were frantically trying to take down the woman. Suddenly she grabbed the soldier and lifted him off his feet. The soldier struggled for a moment before going limp. The next moment his entire body seemed to liquefy and a heap of clothes and weapons scattered on the floor. Soren rolled over, grabbing the deceased soldier's knife and slashing at the woman. She turned slightly but before the camera could reveal anything more the feed disappeared in a wash of static.

"What happened!?"

The operators back up in surprise to see Ikari standing at his desk.

"The feed terminated," Makoto said. "The camera must have been destroyed."

The commander looked ready to snap at the operator for his obvious statement but a frantic voice in the radio broke in.

"Command, do you read!? We need backup down here! The crazy bitch's after the pilot!"

One of the Section-2 agents had apparently reestablished contact.

"This is Katsuragi," Misato replied. "Hang tight, backup is on the way." She switched channels. "All security teams to the sector five shelter medical wing now! We have a hostile intruder attempting to reach the pilot, protect him at all costs!"

"Personnel are to capture the hostile alive," Gendo suddenly amended.

"What!?" Misato exclaimed. "Sir, if she's really cutting through our troops that easily we can't hold back!"

"That is an order captain," Gendo said coldly.

"And you would risk your son for that!?"

"This is the second time this entity has intruded upon Tokyo-3," Gendo stated. "We must determine how this was achieved and if there are others like her. In light of the potential intelligence we could gain, then yes, the risk is worth it, much as the risk we took to capture the Eight Angel."

Misato was about ready to snarl at the commander, rank be damned, when Amanda's hand appeared on her shoulder.

"Soren is not in NERV's chain of command," she stated simply and loudly enough for all to hear. "He will have no reason to hold back, especially seeing as this, thing, has made an attempt on his life once before."

Ikari's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do not try my patience auditor. If your husband interferes with the capture attempt then he will be neutralized alongside the target."

Amanda regarded Gendo with what was almost an amused look. That was all the reaction she deigned to provide however as the brunette turned her attention back to the main display. In truth she would have been hard pressed to come up with a greater insult than simply ignoring the commander, a point that more than one person recognized. Ikari was certainly one of them and knew that to further prod the woman would be seen as an admittance of weakness on his part. As such he took his seat once more and waited. He could always hope that the insolent woman's husband would yet be a victim to some less than friendly fire once the other teams reached the scene.

Back in the medical wing Soren was a bit too occupied to worry about the political posturing that was happening on the command deck. Being forced to fight for one's life tended to leave one with little attention to spare for such trivialities. The woman was a tough opponent at close range, not because she possessed any sort of competency at hand-to-hand combat but because hitting her was like trying to punch rock. He had already snapped one combat knife and was busy wearing down a second that one of the surviving soldiers managed to toss him before getting liquefied. Now only he and the Section-2 agents were left.

The woman's anti-AT-field was not that strong all things considered and Soren's own AT-field barely even noticed it. At the same time he could not afford to get caught within her grasp. There were too many witnesses yet and more on the way if the response over the radio was telling the truth. Seeing as it was Misato's voice doing the shouting, Soren had little doubt that the area would soon be flooded by more soldiers and agents. He needed to finish this fast.

The woman lunged at him again and Shinji caught her arm. Twisting it about he managed to force her head down. Slamming the barrel of his pistol into the back of her head, Soren pulled the trigger and unloaded an entire clip. The pointblank salvo caused the woman to shudder and the skin to crack ever so slightly, revealing bright red veins. Suddenly her head jerked up and slammed into Soren's own. The German staggered back, losing his grip but still remaining on his feet. Eerily the woman actually started cackling.

"Shiiiiiiinjiiii," she uttered.

Soren was again treated to a clear look of his attacker's face and there was no mistaking who the woman looked like. That did not of course mean she actually was who she looked like, though the prototype plugsuit she wore under the robes was telling in the extreme. Either way he needed to neutralize her before more witnesses arrived.

"Geh zum Teufel!" Soren snapped, landing a solid roundhouse into the woman's chest.

The blow caused his opponent to stumble and crash against the wall. Picking up a discarded rifle, Soren shoved it into the thing's face and let loose. The cracks grew with every hit before finally the head shattered in a shower of red fragments. The body slumped down motionless. The next second it dissolved into a scarlet liquid that flowed around the man's shoes. Only then did the sound of thundering boots reach them as more soldiers arrived at the scene. They scanned the scene weapons at the ready before catching sight of Soren standing over the pool of what looked to be blood.

"Reimer-san," the senior officer said. "What, is that?"

"What's left of our intruder," the German responded, stepping out of the pool.

"I, see," the man said, a bit relieved that it was all over. He had not looked forward to trying to reconcile the commander's orders with the situational reality of a life-and-death fight.

Soren rummaged through his jacket and grimaced. He had gone through every clip he had been carrying and then some considering the discarded weapons he was forced to rely upon. They had managed to kill the thing this time but if there were more-

"Whoa, what's happening!?"

Soren turned around and watched as the red liquid seemingly evaporated. Looking down at his shoes he found that the same was happening there. With a few short moments there was nothing left.

"Well, hell," Soren muttered and sighed. He walked over to one of the Section-2 agents. "Give me your radio."

The man handed it over without hesitation.

"Misato, are you there?"

"Huh? Soren, what's going on?"

"I think you should get down here and get Shinji out of here," he said.

"Alright, understood. I'll be right there."

Looking about Soren considered the carnage. The damage to the corridor was considerable never mind human casualties. NERV was simply not equipped or prepared to handle human sized threats. An intentional oversight on SEELE's part but now the law of unintended consequences was coming into full effect. Things promised to only get more complicated from here on.

* * *

Two days passed since the Angel attack before the pilots returned to school. Or rather Asuka and Rei returned. Shinji remained absent and come lunch his friends wasted no time pressing for answers.

"What gives," Toji said. "Where's Shin-man? Why're you and Ayanami back but not him?"

"Shut up," Asuka hissed.

The jock was at first taken aback but before he could respond in kind to the redhead his girlfriend intervened.

"Suzuhara," she said sternly, causing the jock to snap his jaw shut. "Asuka-san, did something happen?"

Asuka regarded the trio and sighed. Amongst them only Hikari could really be termed a friend of the redhead. The class rep was however also a friend of Shinji's and even the other two stooges deserved to know the truth. That did not mean it was any easier to explain.

"Follow me," Asuka said. "First, you come too."

Rei glanced over at Asuka and stood, apparently not seeing any reason to reject the request. The group proceeded up the stairs and emerged out on the roof. After making sure no one else was around Asuka turned to face the three.

"What do you know about the battle against the last Angel?"

"Not much," Toji said.

"It broke out from Matsushiro," Kensuke said at the same time.

"Hmmm?" Asuka said. "Section-2 must really be slacking off if someone like you found that out."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Kensuke demanded.

"Anyway, what I'm about to tell you goes absolutely no further than the three of you," Asuka said, ignoring the boy's protest. "If you spread it around or post it on some internet forum, I will break you and I will make sure Shinji never forgives you, am I clear?"

The three stared at Asuka, eyes wide. Toji and Kensuke finally managed to nod dumbly while Hikari tilted her head in a solemn manner.

"So, you three remember that girl that came with Shinji to the marine preserve?"

The three nodded. The next moment they gasped.

"You don't mean!?" Hikari began.

Asuka cast her eyes to the side. "She, didn't make it."

"That can't be," the brunette gasped, hands over her mouth.

The two boys just stared at Asuka mouth agape. Toji was the first to recover and his hands closed into tight fists.

"Damn it, what the hell!?" he cried. "How'd that happen!?"

"The details are classified," Asuka said. "All you need to know is that she died due to the Angel attack."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!?" Toji demanded. "Ya think we're gonna be satisfied with just that!?"

"Yes," Asuka hissed. "Yes, you WILL be satisfied you idiot. This goes way beyond anything you've gotten involved with before. Remember your little stunt when you and the other stooge went to watch Shinji fight an Angel? Yeah, I heard about that. Well believe me when I say this, this is way beyond that. You don't WANT to know the details, it won't help matters. The only thing you need to know is that WE screwed up and the girl that Shinji loved is dead because of it."

Toji closed his mouth and winced as if Asuka's words had punched him in the gut. In some ways the news that his best friend was grieving over a lost loved one was just that. He had already had one close call when he and Sakura were nearly killed during the first Angel attack. Now that he was dating Hikari it became even easier to imagine the anguish his friend was going through. Helplessly Toji glanced over at the other pilot. If he hoped that Rei might yet contradict any of Asuka's statements however he was quickly disappointed as the girl nodded ever so slightly.

"Pilot Shikinami is substantially correct," Rei said. "Pilot Ikari is, currently undergoing substantial strain due to the death of Yamagishi Mayumi."

"He's damn near catatonic," Asuka added. "Damn baka barely even eats, he's already too scrawny to begin with, this'll just make things worse."

Hikari gazed at her friend, now understanding just why Asuka's normally crystal blue eyes looked hazy. The redness might have easily been mistaken for lack of sleep under other circumstances. Now however the puffiness could only have come from one thing. Hikari stepped toward her friend and gently took her hand. Then she reached over and enveloped Asuka in an equally gentle embrace. The redhead shuddered, the slow and steady nature of the contact allowing her to control herself. But the other girl's touch was too warm, too comfortable and Asuka felt herself returning the hug. She did not cry, she had already shed her tears with Amanda and even Misato, but this simple contact was in some ways just as relieving.

"Is, is there anything we can do?" Kensuke asked.

With Asuka so preoccupied his question was addressed to Rei. The First Child cocked her head aside in thought.

"Visiting him may be of some help," she said. "Ikari-kun has so far been unresponsive to most efforts to reach him."

"Yeah, we'll do that," Toji said. "Thanks Ayanami."

Rei blinked but nodded. "You are welcome."

* * *

The man seated across from Soren was another of Gendo's trusted hatchet men. Such men tended to think of themselves as better than others, suffering a sort of neurotic high that came with a twisted pride in their willingness to commit heinous acts. They also tended to look down upon others and made little effort to hide their disregard for the sanctity of life. Those combinations were usually enough to intimidate others, which generally allowed them to get whatever they wanted. Failing that there was always direct action. Rare was the case when both options were ineffective and in those situations the unease of such men was equally obvious. Soren was finding it somewhat difficult not to laugh.

"Are you sure that is all you remember?" the man asked again.

The German raised an eyebrow and his tone made clear his own impatience. "Yes."

The man grimaced in obvious irritation at the flippant tone but knew that brandishing threats against Soren was pointless. Even disregarding the fact that he was married to NERV's auditor-general, this was a man that had fought and defeated the crazed woman that managed to penetrate NERV's security twice, and he had done so at close quarters. That meant he was the only one that got a clear look at the woman, hence the current debriefing.

Soren knew perfectly well just why the elder Ikari was fixated on getting details of the attacker. Soren already knew from Amanda that the command staff had seen the back of the woman's head. Coupled with the bits of the plugsuit visible when she was trying to grab him and Gendo would have to have been completely imbecilic to have not connected the dots. At the same time the persistent questioning of Soren reeked of a sort of desperation.

"Is there anything else?" Soren asked.

The man frowned, pulling out a folder. From within it he withdrew a photo and slid it to Soren.

"Is this the woman that you engaged?"

Apparently unable to pick apart Soren's consistent descriptions of the assailant and unable to definitively match those descriptions the commander demanded, his questioner was forced to resort to more direct means. Soren picked it up looked at the photo but his face remained utterly impassive much to the irritation of the questioner. It seemed impossible that a man could so completely hide his thoughts.

"And this is supposed to be?" Soren asked.

"You simply need to verify whether she is the woman that attacked you," the man stated. "Nothing else is relevant."

"No she is not," Soren said, flicking the photo back. He then smirked. "I was not aware Rei Ayanami had a relative on record."

The questioner's expression flickered for just a moment but his composure recovered. He made no denial and simply put the photo back into the folder.

"That will be all then," he said. "You are free to go, Reimer-san. We will contact you again if we require your cooperation again."

"Should that event occur, I suggest you follow procedure and contact my legal representation. The extent to which you can conduct yourself in a courteous manner will determine the level of cooperation you shall receive."

Without waiting for the man to say anything Soren stood and stepped toward the door. As he did so his hand brushed against the folder, causing it to slide to the edge of the table. The man's eyes were however fixed on Soren's own as the German held his gaze until his back was facing the questioner.

Outside Soren was just in time to see his wife stalking over and surprisingly the two guards looked almost relieved that he was out.

"So, they done with this nonsense?" Amanda said, irritation the best the guards could hope to find in her gaze.

Soren nodded. "Shall we?"

The brunette nodded brusquely but still gave the men a parting glare. Though they might be willing and able to do Gendo's dirty work they knew just enough about the power plays going on that Amanda Sommer was not someone to cross lightly.

"So, how'd it go?" Amanda asked once they rounded the corner.

"About what we expected," Soren said. "Ikari desperately wants to confirm the attacker's identity. In fact he's so desperate he pulled out an old photo."

Soren's hand brushed his wife's and the Amanda closed hers to make sure she did not drop the item that was just palmed off to her.

Are you utterly insane, was the unspoken but pointed question.

Soren simply smiled. "You seem to be making little headway with your other investigation."

Amanda grimaced, acknowledging the point. One of the tricky parts about trying to tie Rei to Yui Ikari was the lack of photos of the latter. But once one knew what the commander's deceased wife looked like however, the resemblance was unmistakable.

"We'll probably need to wait before springing that on him," Amanda said.

Soren nodded. "That goes without saying. For now our immediate concern is his recovery. How is he?"

"Damn near catatonic," Amanda said. "Misato's been shoving more and more of her work on Lieutenant Hyuga so that she can be with Shinji back home."

"And the other pilots?"

Amanda grimaced. "Asuka's, confused. And also angry. She's trying to untangle how she should feel about having torn apart the Angel since everything basically got reflected back at Mayumi. Rei also seems distressed about Shinji's condition. That might be a good thing, to an extent, she might try reaching out to him."

"I see." Soren fell silent for a few moments. "And Ms. Yamagishi?"

"I've spoken with her," Amanda said. "I explained to her the best I could, including some officially classified bits. She and the other kids are still in shock, but I know that she'll pull through and make sure they do too." She glanced at her husband. "And they'll have our help for this as well."

Soren nodded. The amount of assistance they could offer was limited, especially with their other responsibilities. But there were things that he and Amanda could do. After all, what worth were the assets and resources in their name if it could not do some good now?

* * *

Rei had just set down the tray of food when Asuka caught sight of her.

"First."

The girl in question looked over at Asuka silently, waiting. The redhead glanced down at the tray.

"What are you doing?"

"I am providing Ikari-kun with his breakfast," Rei stated.

Asuka's eyes narrowed. "Where'd you get the food from?"

"Sommer-san has been taking me grocery shopping," Rei said. "I prepared the ingredients she selected."

That Asuka did not expect and she regarded the tray of food. "So, has he been eating?"

Rei's head lowered a slight fraction. "A little."

Asuka sighed. "That baka. He doesn't even have the decency to accept a girl's cooking."

Despite her usual lack of expression Rei found agreement stir within herself. "It is, remarkably insensitive of him."

Asuka's eyes widened at the other girl's comment. While she had long realized that Rei was not an impassive doll such displays were still quite rare.

"Well, we'll just have to make him regret his callousness even more won't we?" Asuka said with a grin. "How about tomorrow I'll teach you how to make something that'll really knock his socks off?"

Rei thought it over briefly. "That would be acceptable. So long as it is not a ploy to get me to cook breakfast for you as well."

This time Asuka's jaws dropped. There was no way, absolutely no way, that Rei Ayanami had just done what Asuka thought she had done. The First Child had just cracked a joke.

* * *

Once more Misato was in Amanda's office, not so much hiding from anything than making sure she did not do something rash. Something like smashing in her superior's face.

"That son of a bitch," Misato fumed. "He doesn't deserve to be called a father, no he doesn't deserve to be called a man, no, a human!"

"You do realize this room is bugged?" Amanda said.

"Bite me," Misato said. "If Ikari wants to fire me he can go ahead and try."

Amanda tapped her pen thoughtfully. "Misato, please try not to make my job too difficult. I can override the Commander, but it creates an ungodly amount of paperwork. If I have to intervene for your sake, I'm dumping it all on your desk."

The grimace on Misato's face was real enough but she was not put off in the least. "Connections are meant to be used."

Amanda sighed. "Alright, in that case here."

The captain looked at the stack of papers. This time she blanched.

"You weren't kidding."

"Since when have I ever?" Amanda retorted.

With a measure of hesitation Misato flipped through the pages. Adoption was a relatively streamlined process thanks to Second Impact even when the child was not an orphan. Japan had a history of adoption of children into families for inheritance purposes before that as well, not that what Amanda was proposing fell into that category.

"This, seems like a big step," Misato said.

"No doubt," Amanda agreed. "At the same time, I don't think anyone that matters will be objecting to this arrangement. And I have the feeling that Ikari would prefer to minimize any need to interact with his son."

"At this point I'd say that'd be better for Shinji-kun as well," Misato said. "Hell, that bastard shouldn't be allowed near any children."

"Oh? Planning on adopting Rei as well?"

"What? Oh god, please tell me you weren't planning this since the beginning!?" Misato protested.

"No, I'm not that Machiavellian," Amanda said. "Read his book though, he makes some good points and he was smart enough to keep it short."

Misato snorted. "Sure, because it can be summed down as kill everyone that can be a threat, friend or foe."

"A bit of an oversimplification," said Amanda, "but we can leave Rei's situation for later. Right now the question is what you will do about Shinji."

The captain gazed at the paper intently for several moments before laying it flat on the desk.

"Where's a working pen?"

Amanda smiled and presented the one in her hand.

Without any further hesitation Misato signed her name. "I don't have my seal with me."

"This is good enough, I'll notarize it and have it formally filed," Amanda said. She regarded the captain thoughtfully. "So, does this mean you've reconsidered your motive for fighting the Angels?"

Misato looked up at her friend in surprise. "What?"

"Don't what me," Amanda said. "You joined Gehirn and then NERV in order to take revenge on the Angels. Is revenge still your goal, or are you fighting for something else entirely?"

The look on Misato's face turned rueful. "So you knew about that."

Amanda snorted. "Of course we all know about that. You may have tried to hide how you really feel behind the beer but we're not idiots."

Misato sighed resignedly. "I suppose not. And the truth is I don't know. I still hate the Angels and I'm not sure I'll ever move past that. But I do care about the pilots, and no one else should suffer for my own personal vendetta."

"Is that so?" Amanda said, clasping her hand again. "Does that mean if the last Angel had woken up inside the volcano, would you have withdrawn Asuka? Or would you have ordered her to engage the Angel?"

The captain thought over the question in silence for several long minutes. Amanda however did not rush her friend.

"I would have ordered her to engage," Misato finally admitted.

"Oh?"

Misato nodded. "The Angel still needed to be defeated. And if I didn't, I'm pretty sure we'd have had an N2 bomb dropped on us."

This time it was the auditor's turn to nod. "Good."

Misato blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I won't bother pretending I'm happy with the thought of you forcing Asuka to fight in that kind of environment, especially seeing as both her prog knives broke before she even reached the Angel. At the same time Sandalphon still needed to be defeated. As much of a bastard as Ikari is, he does have a point. NERV's reason for existing is to defeat Angels. We put the pilots through hell not because we want to but because defeat means the extinction of mankind. In some ways we're trying to stave off our own mortality by offering up children, the very future of humanity, as sacrifices. Quite pathetic, no?"

That caused Misato to grimace. "I guess I should have thought about the implications more."

That was true enough, in Amanda's opinion. The good captain had not hesitated to deploy Shinji against the Third Angel after his arrival in Tokyo-3 despite his completely unpreparedness. That was something quite a few people, maybe even Misato herself, forgot about. Perhaps the fact that no one else protested helped soothe her sense of guilt by allowing her to believe that the sin was shared amongst many, thus diluting it. That was a delusion however and the weight that pressed down on the captain's soul was heavier than the woman seemed to realize. If she left it too late, it would crush her without mercy.

"So, how is Shinji?" Amanda asked, shifting the topic to more immediate concerns.

"He's still out of it," Misato said. "He just lays in his bed, he barely eats, and he doesn't respond when I try to talk to him. When I tried to touch him he knocked my hand aside. See? There's even a bruise."

Amanda raised an eyebrow as she looked at the welt. "I must be doing a better job than I thought if he could do that."

"Not funny," Misato said. "If he tries that on Asuka, both of them might end up in the hospital."

"There is that," Amanda conceded. "And? What do you intend to do?"

"I don't know," Misato admitted. "I mean, I honestly don't know. Shinji-kun needs time to rest and recover and we might be able to do something to help him, but I really have no idea what that could be."

"I suppose at this time all we can do is be there for him when he needs it and keep our hand extended," said Amanda.

Misato nodded. "Speaking of which, his friends were going to drop by after school today. I need to be there to let them in."

"Alright. Well, best of luck Misato, you're basically his family now."

Misato sighed. "Yeah, boy won't he be surprised once he finds out."

* * *

The trio of students had walked these halls many times before on their way to study or hang out at the Katsuragi residence. Never before had their steps felt so heavy. Hikari was in the lead, the two boys trudging along behind her. Even the sight of Misato greeting them did not stir the two, they simply bowed respectfully with the class rep.

"Katsuragi-san," Hikari greeted respectfully. "How is he, Shinji-kun?"

"He's in his room," Misato replied. "You can try talking to him, but I suggest you avoid pushing him."

"I understand," Hikari said. "Oh, I brought some food, I know that Shinji-kun tended to cook for all of you."

Misato smiled. "That's very thoughtful, thank you."

After letting them in Misato settled down in the living room to let them go about their errand without her hovering over their shoulder. Hikari unpacked the food and put most of it away in the fridge. Some however she heated up and put it on a tray. It was at about this time that Rei and Asuka appeared.

"Oh, Hikari," Asuka said. "Did you bring that?"

The class rep nodded. "There's more in the fridge so you two won't need to worry about dinner tonight."

Asuka smiled. "Thanks Hikari. And don't worry, we've been fending for ourselves okay. I'm not too bad a cook myself you know."

"Oh really?" Hikari said, her own smile wide. "So you've been taking care of Shinji-kun then?"

"Err well," Asuka coughed.

"Pilot Shikinami and I have alternated preparing Ikari-kun's meals," Rei suddenly said.

"Ah hey, you didn't have to tell them!" Asuka protested.

Rei blinked. "What reason is there to hide this fact?"

Hikari on the other hand looked ecstatic even as her boyfriend and his friend seemed torn between horror and disbelief that the red devil could show such compassion. Then again they were slowly coming around to the fact that the redhead had a more complex personality than they first gave her credit for. It was a grudging admission on their part, but they were still making it. Time would tell whether their little truce would turn into a genuine ceasefire or even armistice. Today they once again had common cause after all.

"Well tonight you can leave Shinji-kun's meal to me as well," Hikari said. "We thought we might try to have a little talk with him."

Asuka gave Rei a look before glancing back at her friend. "There's, something you should know beforehand."

Hikari tilted her head questioningly.

"It's about how Mayumi died. Or I suppose why."

The three friends stiffened.

"I thought you said we didn't need to know this," Toji said.

"And you really shouldn't," Asuka said with a sniff. "I'm not kidding when I say that you knowing this is dangerous, not just for NERV but for yourselves as well. If you leak this out, your lives might well be in danger."

That took the wind out of Toji's irritation as he realized just how serious the girl was. But his pride and his loyalty would not let him back out at this point.

"Alright, lay it on us," he said. "We know when ta keep our mouths shut."

Asuka chuckled but made no remarks at the boy's expense as her face turned solemn.

"Mayumi was connected to the last Angel that attacked. I don't know the details, but the wounds that were inflicted upon the Angel got reflected on her."

The three stared at Asuka, their eyes widening again in disbelief. Toji made a choking sound while Hikari clasped her hands over her mouth. Once more it was Kensuke that managed to speak for them.

"Then, did she die because the EVAs fought the Angel?" he asked.

Asuka nodded. "Something to that. We didn't realize what was going on until Soren called in telling us to get Shinji down to the medical wing. Mayumi had already started bleeding, probably from when they were trying to cut open the Angel to study it. After Shinji got recalled I, kept digging through the Angel's body trying to find its core so we could kill it."

"You-you couldn't have known!" Hikari immediately blurted out as Asuka's gaze fell.

"No, I couldn't have," Asuka said, clenching her fists. "And neither could Baka Shinji. But ignorance doesn't excuse any damn thing. We're supposed to protect humanity from the Angels, not kill people while fighting Angels."

Hikari made no response, regarding her friend with a renewed sense of respect and faith. Her heart also bled as she realized just how deep the wounds her friends suffered went. This was not just about Shinji losing his first love, it was him having a hand in her death.

"There isn't even a body to bury," Asuka muttered. "How are we supposed to mourn her like this."

Once more Hikari closed in to her friend and took her hands. The redhead flinched but her fists slowly unclenched, allowing the other girl to hold them with her own.

"You're strong Asuka-san," Hikari said. "You fight to protect all of us. What will we do if you lose the will to do so?"

Asuka looked up and met the class rep's eyes as she smiled gently back at her. Hikari Horaki was a level headed girl, one whose intelligence and compassion were well known in the school. After all, for her to be known for her strict adherence to the duties of class representative she first had to have attained that position. Even in middle school the role was based on popular vote, coupled with endorsement by the homeroom teacher, and Hikari would never have held her current post without the support of her classmates. Her charisma was thus genuine and Asuka recalled that what had started out as an association of convenience was now a genuine friendship. For that the redhead found that she was genuinely glad.

"I guess you'd all be in trouble," Asuka said with a playful smirk.

"Just as we're in trouble now with Shinji-kun," Hikari said.

Asuka sighed. "Yeah. Alright, I've said my piece, now it's your turn to try to talk some sense into the baka."

* * *

The visit by their classmates concluded without any visible progress and Asuka was left considering her options. The Third Child had in many ways been a surprise to her. Before their meeting she had not paid the boy's existence much mind even after his surprise victory against the Third Angel. Then he went on to defeat the Fourth and then the Fifth before helping her in their victories against the Sixth and Seventh. At this point Asuka had no difficulty thinking of Shinji as a rival, someone worthy of measuring herself against, even if in his day to day life his lack of ambition or drive grated at her. But he had been improving and Asuka could even see Amanda and Soren's influence behind the changes. Except now just as he had been showing actual progress, even going so far as hooking up with a girl, he had stumbled. No, he had fallen, and if there was something that Asuka loathed even more than people not trying was people giving up after the first hiccup they encountered.

In fairness Asuka knew that what had happened to Shinji had to be on the same order as what she herself went through after her mother's death. Her own reaction to that event had not been the healthiest the girl knew, but neither was Shinji's response to Mayumi's death. So far everyone seemed to be trying to give him space, to let the boy recover by himself while making sure their own hand was extended for when he was ready to reach out again. That approach however was beginning to grate on the redhead. She even knew why and she was preparing to do something about it.

Most people would call Asuka a girl of action, woman in a few years. She did not have the patience for words, to either give or receive. But that did not mean she was not capable of thought. She had had plenty to think about since her arrival in Japan, first with the experience of living with Rei and then adding Shinji to their little cohabitation arrangement even if it was only for a week. Then there was the call from her father and the revelation that Shinji had actually caught on and accepted her little challenge with the wall of Jericho. That had been a surprise, almost as big a shock as her father's words. But Asuka had done as she promised, she had thought through all of it and found an answer. And now she was going to pass it onto Shinji even if she needed to beat it into him.

Without bothering to knock or get his permission, Asuka opened the door to the boy's room. Shinji was laying on his bed, his SDAT looping endlessly. In another time Asuka might have found the scene pathetic. She might have found the boy pathetic. But tonight, tonight she saw a reflection of her own pain and sorrow and the Second Child was nowhere near selfish enough to wish that upon anyone.

Shinji did not react to her presence. He might not have even noticed her. That quickly changed as Asuka walked over and grabbed hold of the boy.

"Huh? Wha-"

Surprise turned into shock as Asuka lifted him by his collar and somehow held Shinji in the air. The two were of similar height with Shinji being just a tad taller and of course heavier but the years of conditioning and training with Amanda had given the younger girl a powerful form that was normally hidden beneath a maidenly front.

"Shinji," Asuka said. "I presume I have your attention?"

"Wha-what are you doing Asuka!?" Shinji demanded, feet flaying a bit as he found himself in an almost surreal position.

Asuka dropped him and he fell back onto the bed.

"I need to say something to you and I need to make sure you hear it." Asuka leaned forward. "So, do I have your attention?"

Shinji's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Leave me alone, Asuka. I'm not in the mood for this."

Denying Asuka Langley Shikinami of something was generally regarded as a bad idea. Only a few people in her life could get away with it and still remain in her good graces. She was still undecided whether Shinji Ikari was one of them.

"My mother died when I was four years old."

Shinji froze. He had been climbing back into the bed to lay down but the words that Asuka spoke cut through any thoughts he had. Eventually his body protested at the strange angle he had stopped at and he shifted, this time to look at the girl.

"She hung herself the same day I found out I was going to be an EVA pilot."

Shinji's eyes widened. At this point the shock to his mind was so severe he would not even have noticed if he had stopped breathing. Fortunately that particular action did not need conscious effort.

"When she died, I didn't have anyone there for me. My papa wasn't much help, he'd been a mess ever since mama went insane. But he called me about two weeks ago, saying that he wanted to apologize. He said that he should have been there for me, because I was hurt as much as him when mama died. And you know what? He was right. If he had been there for me, I wouldn't have spent five years just stewing and thinking that I didn't need anyone's help. And you know what? That was the dumbest mistake I ever made in my life."

A small part of Shinji's brain was still functioning and out of sheer desperation for something to latch onto it tried to search for a memory of Asuka ever admitting she was wrong in the past. It came up blank and joined the rest of the brain in numb shock.

"Back then I lost someone I love and no one was there for me. You just lost someone you love but you've got me, Rei, Misato, Kaji, Amanda, and Soren here for you. Hell you've even got the other two stooges and Hikari here for you! You lost Mayumi. Cry for her. Cry for yourself! But don't you dare forget that we are still here!"

Asuka's face was nearly touching Shinji's at this point but the boy was far too gone to even notice. It was only after she drew back that he had any inkling of their proximity but he just gaped at her, the girl's words ringing through his head. Having delivered her bit Asuka took her leave and slid the door shut behind her. Shinji continued staring after her disappeared figure for a while longer yet.

That night Asuka did not get much in the way of sleep. This time it was not nightmares that ruined her beauty rest but her own overactive mind. It simply refused to let up and kept demanding to know why she had blurted out what happened to her mother to Shinji of all people. She kept coming up with excuses, explanations, scenarios, and hypotheses yet all of them just crumbled away effortlessly. Somehow without either of them realizing it, Shinji Ikari had warmed his way closer to her than she had ever let anyone else get. Not even the four adults that had served as a sort of surrogate family for her back in Germany, and in fact continued to do so here in Japan, were that close. It was confusing and irritating and she was feeling an ever greater urge to strangle the boy for making her head hurt this much.

Eventually sheer exhaustion claimed Asuka and she slipped into a less than blissful unconsciousness only to be dragged back to the waking world when Rei of all people informed her that she needed to get up and eat breakfast or be late for school. Asuka was sorely tempted to just skip but decided that a lecture by Misato, or god forbid Amanda, about the importance of attending school was just not worth the fleeting relief of sleeping in today. And thus Asuka dragged herself out of bed, making herself decent and by long habit wandered over to Misato's apartment. It was not until she opened the door that she recalled that she would need to make her own breakfast and wondered why Rei had not stopped her, when the smell of sausages hit her nose. Asuka's exhaustion was blown away in an instant as she surveyed the plate of eggs, sausages, and even pancakes accompanied with a mug of hot steaming coffee.

"Good morning Asuka," Shinji said as he brought his own breakfast out, a more traditional Japanese set.

The redhead looked at him for a few seconds before grinning. "Baka Shinji, I can't believe you left me without breakfast for so many days."

Shinji's own smile was smaller, but at least he was smiling again. "Sorry Asuka. I promise not to do that again."

"As you should," Asuka said, plopping down on the chair. "In exchange I'll help with the dishes. That sounds fair, ja?"

The smile grew just a tad wider. "Sure Asuka. That sounds just fine."

* * *

It had been several months since the primaries contacted one another for an all hands meeting. The risks were pretty minor all things considered but before now there simply had not been a need for it. Information was disseminated and decisions made in a distributed fashion by the responsible individuals before being passed down the network again. Now however they had just emerged from a very big wrinkle to their preplanned scenario and would need to adjust.

"So, do we know why Mayumi appeared?" Amanda asked, getting the ball rolling.

Klinge nodded. "We found the point of synchronicity. There are actually two of them, which was why it took so long to track down, and they're both tied to the desired Asuka and Shinji duality."

"Desired for some of us," Kayabuki said offhandedly.

"Now is not the time for that Midori," Amanda said half-tolerantly.

The other woman shrugged but did not press the point. Whatever her own desires she was not that insensitive.

"We always knew that one of the more difficult things to do would be to get Shinji to open up to the possibility of love," Klinge said. "That was a major development that we wanted to happen regardless and so we forced that change through and worked out the rest of our plans around the cascading ripples that caused. We previously assumed that the integration of the Kirishima scenario would have been sufficient for that purpose and its appearance made us complacent. However, Shinji learning to love and Shinji falling in love with Asuka, at least early enough to do our own plans any good, produced a discord."

Several of the attendants glanced over at Soren who held his hands up. "I have no direct say on the Third's psychological development."

"In this particular case Soren is right," Klinge said. "What appears to have happened is had the Kirishima scenario gone through in its unaltered form, Shinji would have fallen and stayed in love with Mana."

"Like hell," Amanda snapped.

"Oh please, just because you and Soren are together now doesn't mean no one else should have a chance at that kind of happiness," Kayabuki countered.

"Save it you two," Klinge said, the voice of the superior officer cutting off the argument. "As I was saying, there was a very high probability of Shinji and Mana remaining together had the Kirishima scenario gone ahead unaltered. Now as nice as that outcome sounds to some of us, it would have had serious repercussions down the line. It looked like it would have increased the distance between Shinji and the other pilots, which was simply not acceptable. The end result was that conditions needed to be set for Shinji to open up to love, but as Asuka even after the time Amanda and Soren spent preparing her was not able to create this initial opening, someone else had to."

"Oh my god," Amanda uttered. "Mayumi got Shinji to love again, but she had to die so that she wouldn't get in the way!?"

Klinge nodded. "That is what it is looking like."

This time no one made any sarcastic comments. In some ways the tragedy was all their fault. Because of their meddling, of their manipulations, and ultimately of their desires, an innocent girl had been sacrificed. It resonated too deeply with another set of ambitions and the sacrifice those ambitions demanded.

"We cannot let a repeat of this occur," Soren stated sharply.

"Agreed," said Klinge. "We're reviewing the scores to see if any other such dissonances occur but so far we have found nothing. That of course should not be taken as a blanket guarantee."

"We'll keep our eyes open," Soren assured her.

"What about that bastard that started the whole hybrid program?" Amanda said.

"We've got something in the works for him," Klinge said with a feral grin. "Right now we're cooking up some evidence that would suggest he wasn't quite as thorough in his cleanup of the project as he should have been and that the thing that's been attacking Soren is another loose end. With any luck that should get SEELE hot and bothered enough to consider sanctioning him. And if we're really lucky, Soren will be the one they send to do the sanctioning."

"That might be a tad optimistic," Soren said. "SEELE may be prepared to forgive him due to his current responsibilities as commander of the Second Branch."

"Ah, but how far will that forgiveness go if that same evidence suggests that he has been continuing that program behind their backs?"

The man's face took on a contemplative look. "An interesting proposition. Such suspicion would also cause SEELE to keep quiet about the matter from him."

"And if we time it right we can deploy you and a team at the same time as the S2 bringup test," Klinge said.

That caused everyone else to look thoughtful. Preventing the destruction of the Second Branch was something they had more or less given up on due to the inability to get key personnel in place. But if Soren could drop in as part of an inspection or even for the purpose of executing the Second Branch's commander, he could also act as the anchor the collective needed to exert its influence. Stopping the negative energy inversion was likely impossible but even if they could only delay it, they could either evacuate or perhaps move the engine and let it detonate away from a population center.

"We owe her much," Soren stated solemnly.

The others all nodded in agreement. On balance one could claim that Mayumi's sacrifice was not in vain, her death in exchange for the opportunity to save almost everyone at the Second Branch. But the callous way they were manipulating the situation left a bad taste in everyone's mouths. Human life was not meant to be used as currency in some great game and human death even less so. They had to tread carefully lest they became the very monsters they were seeking to slay.

* * *

The number of people gathered at the church was likely more than what was originally expected. The neighbors that had volunteered to greet the mourners seemed taken aback by all the unfamiliar faces. The girl they were here to celebrate had been popular in the neighborhood and her school true, but then there were those students from an entirely different school and all the adults accompanying them.

When Soren bent to sign his name one of the women attending the table gasped in recognition. She was a personal fan of classical music and had followed news of Soren's short term contract with the Tokyo Philharmonic. To suddenly see him attending the funeral of a girl she did not even know he was an acquaintance of was quite the shock. Soren for his part simply nodded to the woman once he finished signing and made way for his wife.

Misato was already inside, keeping an eye on her charges. Shinji was still subdued but his mood was no longer the dark melancholy that was the immediate aftermath of Mayumi's passing. Asuka was also composed and solemn and Rei, well, Rei seemed confused yet prepared to work through that confusion. All three of the pilots were exhibiting depths that surprised Misato. Then again, so were quite a few other people.

The Section-2 agents that were permanently part of Shinji's detail had arranged themselves to allow all of them to sign in as mourners. For that matter so had the agents assigned to Asuka and Rei. Apparently quite a few of them had taken a liking to the young girl after observing her with Shinji so often. It was comforting to think that behind their stoic duty they were still people and still very capable of sharing in the sorrow.

And of course there were Shinji and Asuka's, and slowly Rei's, friends from school. The trio of students had met Mayumi but once at the marine preserve. That was enough however for them to grasp just how important the girl was, is, to Shinji and just how much their friend had been crushed by her passing. Even now Hikari and Toji held each other's hands tightly and had not let go since their arrival.

It was a remarkably beautiful day, Misato reflected. That seemed oddly appropriate for their farewell to a remarkable young woman whose life was cut so short so cruelly. Misato looked up at the clear blue sky. She vowed that the children in her care would not suffer any such fate.

* * *

A few of the children in the gaggle were still sniffling, an expression of sorrow that Soren did not begrudge them in the least. He and Amanda walked over to the kindly matron and bowed.

"Yamagishi-san," Soren said.

Fuuka looked over at the tall foreigner and bowed in return. "Yes? Umm, I'm afraid we have not been formally introduced, but one of my neighbors said your name was Reimer Soren-san?"

"That it is," Soren said and gestured to Amanda. "I believe you already know my wife."

"Sommer-san," Fuuka greeted. "Thank you for coming to, say goodbye to my daughter."

The woman's voice cracked slightly but she put on a brave face.

"It was the least we could do," Amanda said. "I am sorry that NERV was too late to help her."

"It's," Fuuka hesitated. "I know that the good people of NERV were doing their duty and that they tried their best. I do not hold them responsible for what happened to Mayumi."

"That is most kind of you," Amanda said before glancing at Soren.

"Yamagishi-san, you may not know this, but Ikari Shinji is a good friend of ours," Soren began. "Before these events, Herr Ikari had spoken to my wife about what options your daughter might be able to pursue to fund her continuing education. What Herr Ikari did not know at the time was that I am affiliated with an educational trust that sponsors scholarships for individuals of talent and need. I had been preparing the necessary paperwork for your daughter's application, it was only waiting for your mutual consent before submission."

"I, see," Fuuka said. "That was very generous of you, Reimer-san. I appreciate the trouble you went through."

"I regret that I was not able to provide this opportunity sooner," Soren said. "However, in her memory, I can at least see to it that those she loved will have the opportunity that was stolen for her."

Fuuka blinked. "Umm, excuse me, I'm not sure I understand."

"It is simple," Soren said gently. "If you are willing to accept, I am prepared to cover the cost of any school that the children under your care are able to gain admittance into through their personal and honest effort, up to and including their undergraduate education."

Fuuka breathed in sharply and her eyes widened as the fullness of Soren's offer hit her. She simply stood there as her mind raced.

"May I, ask, why?"

Soren's eyes did not for a single moment waver from her own. "Shinji is not the only one who feels that they have failed to save an innocent. I ask that you allow us to remember and honor her, for it is the only thing we could do."

A single tear escaped and streaked down Fuuka's cheeks. More quickly followed but they slid aside as her face shifted to a smile. The matron's next words were but a whisper.

"Thank you."

* * *

Shinji gazed at the gleaming new tombstone and the name etched upon it. The years that the dates spanned were too short by far. It reminded him of another grave, one that was also empty. The thought caused his chest to tighten.

"I'm sorry Mayumi," he said. "I wish, I wish we had known sooner. I wish I had been able to do more."

The tears that came before carried with them a great sorrow. The ones that now fell seemed to carry away with them a great weight. Shinji had learned much about his own heart in the all too brief time with Mayumi. He experienced joy and anguish, serenity and fear. Yet where once he might have closed his heart to try to hide from his pain, he now knew that doing so would cause him to lose touch with the happiness that Mayumi had made him feel. That loss was something he simply would not accept and so he kept his heart open, letting the pain be dulled by time and all those around him that extended their hand. The pain was still there of course, but in all the ways that mattered it was eclipsed by the bonds that were now filling his heart. And within those bonds there was one that though closed would never be broken.

"I'm glad I met you Mayumi," Shinji said, gazing at the stone through misty eyes. Her name remained clear and bright. "Thank you."

End of Chapter 12

To my mild surprise this ended up nearly as long as the previous chapter. That was purely unintentional, but apparently I had lots of scenes to dump out.

Two of the reviews I received for the last chapter caused me to laugh. The first one was a reminder to me of just how vehement the shipping wars were for the EVA series back in the day. I'd say that the shipping war in EVA was perhaps one of the earliest ones that occurred for anime in the west. EVA is that old after all. At the same time the fact that the reviewer in question was ranting at Mayumi indicates that I did a good enough job in her portrayal that Mayumi was considered a genuine threat to said reviewer's preferred pairing. If I had done a bad job, generally people that ship an alternate pairing would have directed their ire at me instead of a character. It's nice to more or less know that I can still pull off believable relationship development.

I'm not an ardent believer of any particular pairing, though I am partial to the Shinji and Asuka pairing because Asuka herself is appealing to me as a character. I am however perfectly willing to appreciate stories with other pairings. There is an old one that paired Hikari with Shinji for example that I enjoyed. It all comes down to how well the characterization is done. Those that do it well, I learn something from, assuming that the wider story is also enjoyable. Those that don't, I don't bother reading regardless of what pairing they portray. We'll see how well I can apply those lessons when the Kira and Lacus fans in the Gundam Seed fandom get wind of what I have in mind for Kira. I'll probably need to set up the Firestorm defenses again.

The other review that gave me a laugh did so because of the claim that Amanda basically fixes the problems in EVA and that those problems are some of what makes EVA interesting. The latter part is true, EVA is interesting to many fans because of the conflict and strife generated by the personal problems of the characters. The reason I laughed was the notion that Amanda would be able to fix the issues such that the problems that made EVA interesting no longer appear. She's trying, and so is Soren of course, but they aren't perfect. The entire scenario with Mayumi was intended to serve as a reminder of that. The extent to which Amanda, Soren, and the sidesteppers screwed up with the Yamagishi scenario should now be fairly clear, along with how complicated it is making their future plans. This is also not the last screw up the sidesteppers will suffer. I have a few others lined up as well.

Having said that, I can say now that I have no intention of pursuing a storyline that involves psychologically damaging the EVA pilots beyond what we saw in the original series. It ultimately comes down to personality, mine specifically. I find very little satisfaction in reading stories where trauma exists for the sake of trauma and to subject the EVA pilots to further harm is pushing hard against that line. In the original they were all already screwed up but they did not quite cross into purely self-destructive behavior. And since I generally find characters that cannot move past their own problems uninteresting, I am highly unlikely to ever write a story with such characters. That's also one reason why I didn't particularly like the third Rebuild movie. Asuka and Misato had damn near no actual characterization compared to the previous two movies and I found it hard to have any sympathy for them, regardless of what they had suffered. Again, it's a personality thing, mine, in that I cannot understand the mentality that drives self-harm, thus my lack of interest in such ves I found it hard to have any sym

I actually considered a couple of different story concepts before settling on the current one. Several involved the EVA pilots being as damaged as they are canonically but in differing ways. One involved Shinji being a functional psychopath that was seeking to murder his father. Another saw him as someone who had suppressed all emotion and evaluated things purely from a cost/benefit to himself perspective. The problem I ran into was that ultimately working out the mechanics of these storylines proved rather unsatisfactory. The concepts might have been interesting if executed well, but I was unable to construct the events that would convincingly portray characters with such mentalities. And so we have In Tune instead.

One thing that I am mildly surprised no one has picked up on is the implications of the presence of the sidesteppers' presence. In the summary I make clear that it has something to do with the power that Instrumentality granted. Now ask yourselves this, what actually happened in the End of Evangelion?

Final note, this is the last chapter that I actually have written. I have over twenty thousand words of text written for events that happen after this chapter but almost all of those are scenes that take place near the end, at the end, or much later than the events that will take place in chapter 13. I also will be traveling extensively during April so the rate of updates will be dropping significantly. I'm mildly surprised I was able to keep at the pace I did for this long. Were I not traveling due to work, I probably could still keep it up, but I'll be quite busy while overseas.

Anyway, drop me a review to let me know what you all think.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Tremolo

Shinji's breathing was ragged but he had no time to rest. Asuka came at him without pause, her punches and kicks following a steady beat that he just barely managed to block. The girl's flexibility was really something as she threw a sidekick high enough to strike at Shinji's head. The boy blocked, knocking aside Asuka's leg and swinging his free arm over in a horizontal strike. The girl effortlessly grabbed hold of said arm, spinning about and throwing Shinji over her. The Third Child let out a cry of surprise before slamming onto the ground.

"My win," Asuka said with a big grin.

Rubbing his bottom, Shinji returned the smile with a wirier one. To his surprise Asuka extended a hand and he let the girl help pull him back onto his feet.

"Thanks Asuka."

"For kicking your ass?" the girl asked, her grin turning teasing.

"For picking me back up," Shinji replied.

Asuka's eyes widened a bit before she looked away, the hint of a blush appearing.

"Don't get the wrong idea," she said, "if I didn't do it you'd still be flat in your back."

Shinji's smile softened a bit. "I know."

There really was nothing more to say on that topic, at least if he wanted to avoid a further thrashing at the girl's hands, and so Shinji looked around them. Quite a few other people were about including several of the Section-2 agents assigned to protect him, Asuka, and Rei. Soren was currently running them through a set of almost merciless drills, snapping out techniques and combinations so quickly that the agents barely had time to respond. The way they deferred to Soren felt a bit strange, at least until Shinji watched several of them try sparring with the German man. More than once he wondered if Soren had allowed Amanda to win that time.

The woman in question was also present though her attention was focused on her newest student. Rei's appearance at the training session had been a surprise but a pleasant one from Shinji's perspective. The girl was apparently already familiar with self-defense techniques and Amanda was now busy expanding that repertoire. Being so diverted the woman had instructed Shinji and Asuka to engage in some self-study, learning from each other instead of simply from Soren and herself. The end result was Asuka basically thrashing Shinji in a series of sparring matches. The boy had yet to even come close to winning against the redhead.

"You still hesitate a bit too much," Asuka said. "You spend too much time trying to figure out what to do and not recognizing the openings that occur. Also, you look around too much."

Shinji blinked. "Look around too much?"

Asuka nodded. "You look at the point that you intend to attack by looking at it beforehand. All I need to do to stay one step ahead of you is to keep my eyes on yours."

"I, see," Shinji said. "But how do I see openings if I'm staring at your eyes?"

The girl shrugged. "Practice. After a certain point you've ingrained the techniques so much that you recognize them in other people's forms. From there it's almost automatic what counter works best."

"So I need to let me beat me up more before I stand a chance," Shinji said with a rueful smile.

"No pain no gain," Asuka said cheerfully.

"So is my pain your gain?" Shinji joked.

The redhead raised an eyebrow and regarded the boy. Shinji immediately felt sheepish at his flippant remark.

"Sorry," he muttered.

To his surprise Asuka walked over and patted him on the head. They were not quite the same height, the redhead being just slightly shorter than him, making the scene even more surreal.

"When you've grown up into a man maybe you can make wisecracks like that," Asuka chided. "Otherwise try not to tempt me into really beating you into the ground."

Shinji groped for some kind of response but found that himself unable to muster one. While Asuka was not visibly angry he had become familiar enough with her to know the girl was feeling irritated. She really did have more depth than he originally gave her credit for, the boy admitted to himself. He could not help but admire her.

"You two done already?" Amanda said as she walked over with Rei. "That's got to be the quickest Asuka's ever gotten tired of beating on someone."

"Hmph, how can I not get bored when he doesn't put up much of a fight?" Asuka retorted.

Despite knowing Asuka's response was purely reflexive and the girl was not really being condescending Shinji felt just the slightest irritation flicker. It was hard to criticize her for this however seeing as this was her coping mechanism for her own wounds. That much Shinji had been able to realize and so he put up with the verbal lashing. It was slowly dying down anyway.

"Well if you want a challenge," Amanda said with a smile, "Rei, why don't you and Asuka have a match?"

The blue-haired girl nodded and stepped forth to face Asuka. The other girl's smile grew feral as she sized up her new opponent.

"Shinji, you better get out of the way," Amanda warned.

The boy wasted no time scrambling to the side next to Amanda. The two girls exchanged curt bows before assuming ready stances and Amanda nodded approvingly.

"Begin!"

Asuka made the first strike as expected from her personality. She charged forth throwing a straight punch but the motion was so quick all Shinji saw was a blur. Rei on the other hand remained unperturbed, sliding her front foot to the side and dodging the strike. The motion flowed into her counterattack as Rei's palm slammed into Asuka's side. The other girl cried out in surprise but shifted her weight slightly, angling her body to let Rei's strike glance off instead of absorbing the full force. Taking advantage of the momentum Asuka spun around and thrust her elbow at the First Child. Rei turned, barely catching the blow before slipping an arm under Asuka's. Deftly Rei kicked out Asuka's legs and with her hold on the other girl sent her tumbling down. The redhead's reaction was a sight to behold however as she swing her legs back, using the momentum to become near parallel to the ground before twisting about. Now Rei's hold on the other girl backfired as Asuka used it to drag both of them down. The two toppled, arms still locked together in a tangled mass.

Amanda let out a low whistle. "Not bad Rei."

"Grr," Asuka groaned as the two separated. "Beginners luck."

Her mentor laughed brightly at that. "Fair's fair, Asuka. Rei managed to fight you to a draw because you overextended yourself. Count it as a lesson that the direct approach does not always emerge victorious."

Asuka puffed her cheeks and looked away but she made no retort.

"Shinji," Amanda said. "Why don't you and Rei have a go at it?"

"Have a go, do you mean spar?"

"What else could I mean?"

The boy scratched his head. "I guess…"

Something on Amanda's forehead seemed to twitch. "Rei."

"Yes?"

"Kick his ass."

"Understood."

Shinji shot the girl a look but she simply calmly assumed a pose. Asuka on the other hand seemed to suddenly more upbeat.

"You better not lose to the baka First," she demanded.

Gulping Shinji assumed a back stance.

"Begin!"

Shinji hesitated, the fact of which was obvious to both of the observers. It was also probably obvious to Rei as she came in and threw a roundhouse at the boy. Shinji blocked it, executing a sidekick of his own. Rei stepped aside out of the way but before she could grab hold of the boy's leg Shinji retracted and put some more distance between them. His body was feeling lighter again as it often did when he was in battle. Rei regarded him, her face intent and focused in a way that he rarely saw. She suddenly closed upon him, launching an elbow strike that despite being stopped pushed him back. Carrying through with her momentum Rei threw a front kick into Shinji's chest. The boy grunted as it impacted solidly and he stumbled back. He barely stopped the follow up kick that swept in from the side.

"Fraulein Ayanami seems quite competent," Soren commented as he stepped next to his wife.

Amanda and Asuka glanced over to see Soren and all of the Section-2 agents had wandered over to watch.

"Shinji's not doing too badly," Amanda said. "Rei doesn't seem able to actually keep close to him."

"That's just cause he keeps running away," Asuka said.

That was true enough, Shinji was retreating constantly to avoid letting Rei launch a series of continuous attacks. One thing he had learned from the other girl's match with Asuka was that Rei always had a series of follow ups or contingencies mapped out whenever she began an attack. If he got caught in one such sequence Shinji doubted he would be able to extricate himself. Defending and retreating however was not a lasting tactic and he searched for openings to exploit. Every one he seemed to find however disappeared as Rei shifted her stance or moved a limb to close it off. Remembering Asuka's admonishments about broadcasting his intent, Shinji forced himself to look Rei squarely in the eyes. Those red, piercing eyes. His momentary transfixion nearly ended in his defeat as Rei launched another attack. The blow threw Shinji off balance and he struggled to regain his footing. Yet now that he was focused on Rei's eyes he felt a sharpening of his senses, a near premonition of her next moves. True Rei's eyes did not dart about, there was still a flicker before her movements. It was enough to direct him to what part of her body the girl intended to strike with and from there where she intended to strike. Shinji's confidence slowly rose as he preempted more of Rei's strikes. The girl's response was an intensifying of her attacks, and a hardening of her eyes.

"Not bad at all," Amanda commented. "I do good work if I don't say so myself."

Of the assembled only Asuka snorted audibly though the others had similar reactions, even if they kept them internalized. Soren clasped his hands behind himself, watching the match intently. Shinji really was doing better. What was more, he seemed to almost be enjoying the sparring. Was that because he enjoyed pushing his body, or was it because of who his opponent was?

The boy himself was unaware of the musings on the sidelines, being a bit too busy trying to figure out how to win against Rei. He was starting to feel drained and it was only a matter of time he collapsed from exhaustion. Rei on the other hand did not seem winded in the least despite having just fought Asuka. Then again that had been a fairly brief match. One thing that was clear however was that much like Asuka Rei's blows, despite their speed, felt light. She likely simply did not have the weight behind her to carry her attacks compared to Shinji. That was the boy's only advantage and so he decided to exploit it to the full.

As Rei threw another kick Shinji stepped into it to the girl's surprise. He absorbed the blow but carried forth, smashing into Rei with his elbow. The force of the strike sent Rei tumbling back but her still outstretched leg caught onto Shinji and with a cry the boy followed her down. As he pulled himself up a bit he felt a most familiar softness in one of his hands. As he looked down Rei stared back at him, a faint reddening of her face visible as she looked down. Shinji followed her gaze before throwing himself back with a second cry.

"I'm sorry!"

"And you damn well should be!" Asuka exploded from the sidelines as she charged over. "Pervert! Creep! I can't believe you'd cop a feel like that!"

"It was an accident!" Shinji protested.

"Oh please, you really think I'd believe that seeing as this is the second time this has happened with the First?"

Shinji tried to come up with something, anything to soothe the rampaging redhead. Coming up with a blank he looked pleadingly at Amanda and Soren. The older woman had her hand over her face in exasperation while Soren was pinching his brow. The Section-2 agents were too busy laughing to be of any help. With no assistance forthcoming Shinji looked back at Asuka and awaited his inevitable fate.

* * *

Rei finished showering and walked out to the lockers, drying herself as she went. In the privacy of the women's changing room Asuka did not make any fuss though back in their apartment the redhead still worked on getting Rei to consider her own modesty more. One could even argue that the blue-haired girl's reaction today was a mark of progress. To the girl in question herself however she only felt an uncomfortable confusion.

"Sommer-san."

Amanda looked over at the girl. "Hmm? Something up Rei?"

The girl placed a hand over her chest. "I feel, conflicted."

The older woman smiled gently. "I suppose now is as good a time as any."

Rei looked up at her.

"Asuka," Amanda called out, "let Shinji and Misato know that me and Soren are taking Rei out for dinner."

"Eh?" Asuka said, her head poking out from the showers. "What's going on?"

"We're just going to have a little chat," Amanda said before looking back at Rei. "C'mon, get dressed. Soren knows this nice little family restaurant."

Rei nodded and a few minutes later she was following Amanda to the parking lot. If the older woman's husband was surprised at Rei's presence as he arrived to pick up his wife he did not show it. Rei on the other hand noticeably hesitated to get into Soren's now repaired car.

"Don't worry," Amanda assured the girl, "he'll behave himself today. Right Soren?"

The man in question raised an eyebrow but ultimately tilted his head in acknowledgment. While her concern was not fully quelled Rei nevertheless got into the back of the car.

"Let's drop by that family restaurant you found," Amanda said.

"You do not feel like cooking tonight?" Soren asked.

Amanda tilted her head slightly. "Eating out will give us time to have a nice, quiet chat."

In other words NERV was unlikely to have bugged the restaurant in question just quite yet, whereas Amanda and Soren knew for a fact that their own place was thoroughly wired. So were their cars, if not when they arrived then certainly Soren's now after it had to be taken in for repairs. In point of fact Amanda knew that her husband and already disabled all of the pickups save one located where the whine of the motors would play merry hell with the recording. Section-2, or at least the parts that Ikari controlled, would probably try again sometime in the future, and so the game of cat and mouse continued.

"I think there is parking nearby," Soren muttered.

That was also a not too minor consideration in Japan thanks to the somewhat still cramped cities. Tokyo-3 was a bit better about that being more or less brand new but it was still well short of the more private car friendly United States or Germany. Ultimately Soren was able to find a relatively nearby parking spot for his car and the trio walked the short distance in between.

"Welcome," a sturdy and level voice greeted them as they entered. "Oh, well if it isn't Reimer-san and his lovely wife. Oh, and who would this lovely girl be?"

Amanda smirked at the owner's playful greeting. "This is Ayanami Rei. She is the, relative of an acquaintance of ours."

Rei bowed politely as Amanda introduced her but made no comment of her own.

"So what can I getcha today?" the man asked.

"Let's see, I'll have that shrimp tempura of yours," Amanda said.

"The grilled fish," Soren said.

"And what about you young lady?" the man said. "I'd recommend the-"

"Fraulein Ayanami is a vegetarian," Soren suddenly interjected.

"Oh really? In that case I've got this great fried tofu and rice recipe that I just added to the menu! Wanna give it a go?"

The other two adults glanced at Rei waiting for her decision. The girl in turn nodded.

"That would be acceptable."

"Alright, coming right up! Hey Soma! Get in here and give yer old man a hand!"

"Well, while we wait," Amanda said. "Why don't you start with your questions, Rei?"

That was easier said than done for the introverted girl and she spent the next couple of minutes simply staring at Amanda. To the woman's credit she did not flinch and returned Rei's gaze levelly.

"Ikari-kun," Rei began but hesitated. "He, is important to me."

Neither adults pressed her on this point, instead waiting to let Rei continue at her own pace.

"I do not like seeing him in distress," the girl finally said. "He has undergone much during his arrival in Tokyo-3."

Soren smiled slightly while Amanda wondered whether she should be happy or concerned. The more emotions that Rei began expressing the less hold Ikari would have over her. And while the commander did possess the option to basically 'reset' Rei by killing her he would need to be truly desperate carry out such an act, not simply because of his own sentimentality but also because of the extraordinarily dangerous weapon that act would serve if Amanda told Shinji about it.

All the same once emotions did come into play it becomes very hard to predict where they might develop. The last thing that Amanda wanted to contemplate was a budding romance between Rei and Shinji, and not just because the two were effectively half-siblings. The woman could at least admit her own selfishness in this matter. Nevertheless they did need to encourage Rei's development for the sake of their long term plans. And because they were not heartless bastards that sacrificed little girls for their ambitions, willingly at least.

"I think Shinji feels much the same as you," Amanda said. "He doesn't want to see you get hurt and he'll go to great lengths to avoid it happening."

Rei tilted her head to the side. "Is this a case of, mutual affection? Like Ikari-kun had with Yamagishi-san?"

Now Amanda really did struggle not to grimace. The look she shot her husband was not exactly pleading but it was clear she was calling for reinforcements.

"There are varying forms of affection," Soren said. "My impression is that Herr Ikari's affection for you is not the same as that he exhibited for Fraulein Yamagishi. Not that he holds you in any lesser regard, it is simply that what he seeks from you and what he offers in turn is different."

Rei thought it over and ultimately concluded that Soren was right. Shinji's actions during the battle against Ramiel certainly indicated strongly the value he placed on her life. That was both comforting yet also disquieting. Only one other person had ever shown such concern, the very man that Shinji seemed to hold no faith in. Trying to reconcile how she felt about both was turning out to be quite difficult.

"They are very, similar," Rei noted.

That was truer than the girl realized, though neither Amanda nor Soren were quite about to reveal that to Rei. Especially since there were significant differences as well.

"There are limits to such comparisons," Amanda said. "You are aware that Shinji's mother, Gendo's wife, is deceased?"

Rei nodded.

"Her death affected both her son and husband greatly and for a time their responses were quite similar, they effectively locked themselves away. Shinji however is slowly coming out of that shell, establishing relationships with the people around him, and actually living his life. From a mental health perspective he is dealing with the passing of his mother in a much more sustainable way than his father, who has been unable to move on."

The extent to which that made sense to Rei was hard to judge. The girl herself had not considered the importance of social links previously after all, though with the increasing importance she was placing on Shinji she might yet comprehend the nuances of what Amanda was saying.

"Is there a way to, allow the commander this same progression?" Rei asked.

The two adults exchanged looks before Soren shrugged.

"That is ultimately a decision the person himself must choose to make," he said. "If the commander does not wish to move on with his life then no external factor can force such a change."

"Is it a certainty that the commander does not wish to move on?" Rei pressed.

And now they reached the really tricky part.

"Asking for confirmation from us is not likely to be satisfactory," Soren stated. "We are not the commander himself and the only answer we could give is based on our impression of the man."

That, was one of the more blatant lies Soren had told thus far. He also did it with a completely sincere tone and face.

"Then I should ask the commander," Rei said.

The two adults exchanged looks again. One thing that people often misunderstood about Rei was that they assumed she did not care about anyone or anything. In reality the girl was capable of immense compassion and intrinsically she was actually a very kind person. The problem however lay in the fact that her stunted emotional development meant she was even less prepared to handle instances of abuse or mistreatment than the other pilots. And while Ikari was unlikely to intentionally go that far with Rei, the mere act of rebuffing or dishonestly accepting her offer of help could be extremely damaging to the girl. For that reason and others Amanda and Soren had taken a very light touch with Rei. Things would ultimately come to a head however and their success or failure in handling the situation could tip the scales where their overall plans were concerned. That was a less than reassuring point.

"Here you go!" a boy around the same age as Rei appeared with plates of food in hand. "Please enjoy!"

Amanda and Soren conveyed their thanks and dug in. The meal itself was mostly in silence as Rei pondered what she had learned today. The other two were equally occupied, wondering which of their numerous contingencies would stand the greatest chance of making sure the world did not end when the Angel of Might arrives.

* * *

"I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised we got this finished so quickly," Misato said.

"Easy for you to say," Ritsuko said. "It wasn't your department that had to make this contraption actually work."

Misato smiled. "And I appreciate all of the overtime you and your people have put in to make it so."

The contraption in question was actually not even really in the two women's current field of view as they were staring at the massive positron cannon barrel. Beyond the final power transformers tied directly into the cannon, all of the conduits, batteries, capacitors, and other assorted equipment needed to keep all of that power from melting everything into a molten heap were actually behind them.

"I'm still surprised we were able to come up with the energy storage for all that electricity," Ritsuko said offhandedly.

"What'd you end up using?" Misato asked. "You mentioned there probably weren't enough batteries in the world for what we needed."

"Flywheels," Ritsuko said. "We buried a lot of vacuum sealed magnetic flywheels into the mountain. Combined with the more conventional batteries we should be able to get off one 200 gigawatt shot on demand. After that the estimate is that it would take the rest of the country about two hours to divert its energy to us from a cold start. But let's not kid ourselves here, we had to jerry rig the interconnects between the Eastern and Western grids last time around and that actually took almost as much time as setting up the cannon and its local support."

Misato grimaced. Not even Second Impact could manage to destroy enough of the nation's infrastructure to allow for a standardization nationwide of Japan's power grid. Whereas the half of Japan on the west side of the Fujigawa and Itoigawa rivers operated at 60Hz alternating current, the eastern half, including Tokyo-3, ran on 50Hz. Amanda's curses had been many and colorful, mostly in German that time, as she helped organize the deployment of enough converters at the boundary of the two grids to allow NERV to tap into the western half's power generation.

Those temporary converters had long been removed however and the Japanese government was once more dragging its feet on the deployment of more permanent systems. Their reasoning boiled down to wanting the UN to pay for more of the systems with the rather specious claim that all of this was being set up for NERV's benefit, never mind the massive boost the systems were going to be to overall reliability of the electrical grid. The German brunette's cursing once that excuse was delivered to her was even more spectacular than the run-up to Operation Yashima.

Ultimately the UN had coughed up some more money in order to get the whole thing moving again though Misato knew that Amanda was preparing to exact her own pound of flesh from the Japanese government for such a blatantly self-serving maneuver. While the captain was not entirely clear on what her friend was planning, ominous murmuring about ripping the Liberal Democratic Party higher ups a new one promised the end result would be quite spectacular. If nothing else the LDP was going to learn that messing with one Auditor-General Amanda Sommer-Reimer was a very politically expensive venture. Misato could not find it within herself to really pity those old men. It would however probably be fun to watch the ensuing fireworks.

"Amanda's making some progress on that last I heard," Misato said. "Speaking of which, you think you'll be able to join us for poker next Sunday?"

It was subtle but Misato caught her friend flinch ever so slightly. Before she could wonder too much about it however Ritsuko shook her head.

"Sorry, there's still a lot of work to do. The commander's insisting that I go over the MAGI records to try to identify our mystery attacker."

"But Soren killed her," Misato said. "She is dead, right? All that was left was that puddle of blood, and even that didn't last long."

"Maybe," Ritsuko allowed, "but there are still too many unknowns. Until we actually know what she is, I wouldn't be so certain that she's gone for good. And let's not forget the abilities she demonstrated."

Misato grimaced at the memory of the woman somehow liquidating one of the soldiers. According to Soren and the surviving Section-2 agents she had done that to every soldier she got her hands on, killing all members of the kill-team dispatched to take out Mayumi. Their end was rather karmic all things considered, even if Misato knew intellectually that it was not really appropriate to treat their deaths like that. Then again it was so hard to find any sympathy for the sorry bastards of Squad 4.

In the midst of her musing Misato almost did not notice her friend appear. Almost, but not quite.

"Hey, speak of the devil," she said.

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "And what have you been saying behind my back this time?"

"I resent that completely unfounded accusation," Misato protested.

That only earned the captain a snort. "Whatever."

"In point of fact I was just inviting Ritsuko here to our poker game," Misato said, "but she claims she's too swamped with work."

The UN auditor glanced at Ritsuko and did not miss the slight hesitation on the woman's face. The good doctor had actually been avoiding Amanda since their little talk and Amanda herself had not pressed any further since then. Now however seemed as good an opportunity as any.

"You really do need to step back from your work sometime," she said. "I know the commander is demanding, but just because he doesn't see the value in associating with your peers doesn't mean you need to mimic his sentiments."

It was a rather backhanded statement Amanda knew, but hopefully it would get the ball rolling.

"I'll think about it," Ritsuko eventually said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I actually do have some work that needs to get done, irrespective of the commander's own demanding schedule."

With that the doctor took her leave and Amanda and Misato were left standing on the viewing platform alone. Below them however technicians and engineers were still at work putting the finishing touches on the cannon assembly. Their dedication was impressive considering evening was fast approaching. That or they really wanted the overtime pay.

"Anyway," Amanda said, "I just got the latest numbers from TEPCO, Tohokuden, and Chuden. They said that 20% of the new converters should be online by week's end and 50% by the end of the month. That'll give us about 30 gigawatts of capacity transfer at that point, which combined with the generator capacity in eastern Japan should allow us to quick charge the capacitors and flywheels in case we need multiple shots from the cannon."

"That is good news," Misato said. "Too bad Ritsuko didn't stay long enough to hear it, it might have even gotten her to loosen up a bit."

Amanda shrugged and smiled. "We'll just have to try something else later. Anyway, shouldn't you be getting home? Not worried about leaving Shinji alone with Asuka and Rei?"

"Nah, they have a study party today at the apartment," Misato said. "And besides, they're all good kids, they'll behave."

"That's probably true enough," Amanda said as she turned to head back down. "Anyway, let's-"

Without warning the brunette stumbled and would have toppled down the stairs had Misato not reached out and grabbed ahold of her.

"Amanda!?"

The other woman did not respond, instead gripping her head with her free hand. She had heard Misato but the flaring pain rendered her utterly unable to respond. Even so Amanda knew that she was not even facing the full force of the backlash. That would be reserved for Soren thanks to his much stronger connection to the Third Child.

* * *

"-and from there you take the square root and that will give you the third side," Hikari said. "See? It's not that different from the Pythagorean Theorem."

That might have been overstating things a bit from Shinji's perspective, though he had to admit to a passing resemblance with the usage of squares and square roots. On the other hand the Pythagorean Theorem had not required the use of cosine and an angle. Of course application of the theory was pretty straightforward compared to learning the proof behind it. Why their school thought that teaching math required also teaching proofs at this stage was beyond the boy and his male friends. Hikari was too dutiful a student to complain too much whereas Asuka already knew this stuff and once she figured out what a question was asking had little difficulty answering. Rei on the other hand was simply extremely intelligent and so had little difficulty with the schoolwork. At times Shinji could not help but wonder why he was the odd man out, in so many ways.

"Ah, I need a break!" Toji cried out. "A man can only handle having his head pounded so much."

The smirk on Asuka's face indicated he had just the snarky response for that but the girl refrained from giving voice to it. It was an admirable demonstration of restraint on the redhead's part though if pressed the girl was likely to simply claim that the jock was too easy a mark and reserve had nothing to do with not wanting to upset her defacto roommate and resident chef.

This was the second week their little study party had resumed since the battle against Sandalphon. Shinji was still somewhat subdued and quiet but he responded to his friends and they did their best to be mindful of how much they pushed. Asuka and Rei were still irregular attendees to these sessions, usually only participating if there was a dinner party afterwards or if the session was held at the Katsuragi residence.

"Alright, time for some snacks-hey where'd all the chips go!"

The jock's consternation was matched by his best friend's amusement.

"You mean you didn't notice that penguin dipping into the bowl while he was reading the paper?" Kensuke said.

Toji eyed the bird in question who did not deign to pay him any mind.

"Can he actually read?" the boy demanded.

"He can write too," Shinji said in amusement. "He signs for all of our packages that arrive when we're not at home."

"You're kidding," Toji insisted.

"He's not," Asuka said. "The one that signed for all of my stuff when it arrived from Germany was the bird. He's managed to learn how to perfectly forge Misato's signature."

Their three classmates were now eyeing the penguin with a modicum of wary respect. It was then that PenPen deigned to respond to them with a single 'wark' before folding the newspaper and making for his fridge. He did stop to wave at Shinji though, apparently holding the provider of edible food in much higher personal regard.

"Are you three staying for dinner tonight?" Shinji asked after waving back at the bird.

"Nah, my pa and grandpa're gonna be home tonight so it's a chance to actually eat as a family. Sakura's been going on about it since morning."

"That's good to hear," Shinji said. He seemed about to say something else but fell quiet.

For a moment the others seemed at a loss of what to say but Asuka quickly found a way out of this latest deadlock.

"So Hikari, you gonna be taking this chance to introduce yourself to the stooge's father?"

Toji's mouth fell agape and the sheer shock kept him frozen for countless seconds. Hikari was not much better and her face looked almost swollen with how flushed it was. Kensuke on the other hand looked like he might well explode trying to hold in his laughter.

"It's not like that at all!" Hikari finally managed to get out.

"Yer talking nonsense!" Toji cried at the same time.

"Really? Do you mean you two are really going to let this opportunity slip by?" Asuka continued, her grin wide and getting wider.

"Asuka!" Hikari gasped, not even bothering with the honorific.

"Yes Hikari?" Asuka said sweetly.

Under normal circumstances the class rep's point of counterattack would be to reflect the redhead's insinuations back at her. Unfortunately Hikari had a fairly good idea of how complex the family situations were for the two pilots, never mind what Shinji had gone through recently so that avenue was effectively closed off. This of course forced the girl to be somewhat more creative and she once more demonstrated that, straitlaced and upright as she was, Hikari was not a shrinking violet.

"Well I just wanted to make sure you'll be available to my maid of honor," Hikari said.

Toji's look of bewilderment immediately switched to his girlfriend and Kensuke was now having no trouble at all suppressing his laughter as his jaw joined his friend's. Even Shinji seemed taken aback by the class rep's response whereas Asuka's mouth was working albeit soundlessly. Rei on the other hand did not display any expression of surprise, though she did seem to be watching the entire exchange intently. For her part Hikari's face was a steadily darkening flush. Eventually Asuka's mouth snapped shut and the redhead was smiling again.

"I'd be honored to," she said, "just so long as you think you can actually get the stooge into a tux."

"Of course I'll be able to," Hikari said primly and purposefully. She did not hide her own smile though.

Shinji cleared his throat and stood. "Let me get us something to drink."

"Wait right there Third," Asuka called out as she got up to follow. "Knowing you you'll just get tea. I need sugar, sugar!"

"Having a sweet tooth like that isn't the heathiest thing, Asuka," Shinji said as the two headed to the kitchen.

"Bite me," came the retort.

The remaining teens were slowly recovering their equilibrium with Hikari sighing at the little drama's conclusion and Toji trying to figure out just how serious his girlfriend was. Not that he objected to the idea per se, though they were both a tad young to be thinking that far ahead.

"You ask me, those two look more like a married couple than you two," Kensuke suddenly interjected, causing Hikari to gasp and his friend to stare at him in shock.

Even Rei cast a curious glance at the bespectacled boy.

"What on Earth'd make you say that!?" Toji exclaimed.

"Oh c'mon," said Kensuke. "Just look at them. Are you really going to say I'm wrong? Or that I'm not at least on the right track?"

The others did as he suggested and saw Asuka and Shinji looking through an assortment of beverages together. To his consternation, Toji found he could not deny his friend's point. Hikari seemed almost overjoyed at the scene while Rei looked on in mild confusion.

"How does Ikari-kun and Pilot Shikinami's interactions indicate they are romantically involved?" the girl asked.

This time Kensuke joined his friends in speechlessness at the utterly unexpected question from Rei. The three exchanged glances, wondering just how they were going to answer this one.

Back in the kitchen Asuka had heard the entire exchange, though fortunately for the redhead Shinji had not.

"What's Toji yelling about?" Shinji asked, starting to peek back out from the fridge.

"Nothing," Asuka said hastily. "Hurry up Baka, we don't have all day here."

"Aright, alright," Shinji said as he pulled out the honeyed apple cider that Asuka was so fond of.

The girl already had cups out and quickly grabbed the container to fill hers. Shinji likewise did so with the chilled green tea. It was still fairly warm after all, what with the completely nonexistent seasons.

"Hey, Asuka?"

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say, thanks, again. For pulling me out."

"Oh, that," Asuka said, looking away from Shinji to hide a mild blush. "It was nothing."

"No, I really mean it," Shinji said. "You told me something really, important, to you. I know that must have been hard, but you're strong, and you did it anyway for my sake. So, thanks."

Asuka said nothing for a few moments, then finally. "Don't mention it Baka."

Shinji smiled slightly, knowing that this was simply the redhead's way of expressing herself. There was no barb in her insults, they were in fact an acknowledgment by the girl. That Asuka thought enough of him to even go so far as to reveal her mother's, her mother's, mother's, mother-

The tea was already overflowing from the container when Shinji lost the grip on the cup and it came crashing down onto the floor. Asuka's head jerked back and their friends in the living room looked over to see what the noise was. What they saw was Shinji standing stock still, still pouring tea out from the container.

"What're you!" Asuka began.

That was as far as she got before Shinji screamed. The girl reflexively jerked back even as Shinji crumbled in upon himself.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried.

Grabbing hold of the boy she managed to cushion his fall and laid him down on the floor. Looking into his eyes she saw them almost completely rolled back. The boy was even beginning to froth and his body started shaking.

"Shinji!"

End of Chapter 13

You guys didn't really think I was done with the aftershocks, did you? More on what actually happened to Shinji next chapter. This one was a tad shorter than the average, but seeing as you guys got two massive chapters for 11 and 12 I'm going to cut myself some slack. That and for pacing reasons I'm leaving this as is.

Hmm, nope, sidestepper is still the most accurate term for the collective members.

In retrospect, I can see some similarities between elements of RahXephon and my story. I even recall after watching what happened to Hiroko to being impressed with the execution of that episode. I think I might have thought of it offhandedly when conceptualizing the Mayumi scenario but I don't recall taking anything directly from it. I can see the parallels though, in both the Mayumi scenario and in other parts of my plot. But that's all in retrospect. Though, one thing, don't take what I said above too much at face value. There may be commonalities but they don't serve as too useful a guide for how my own plot will develop.

I know that the school in the series is often treated as a joke, but if it really was a joke then Shinji wouldn't have been having trouble with his grades. And let's all keep in mind that they were doing actual physics related problem sets. So I've decided to have their school actually be a somewhat advanced one. The best for the families of NERV employees after all.

The thing about Japan's electrical grid is true and makes Operation Yashima even more impressive from a logistical perspective. In reality NERV wouldn't have even been able to draw on power from half of Japan. That they pulled it off in that kind of time pressure is impressive in its own right even beyond the fact that they were shooting a 200 gigawatt positron beam. I also chose 200 gigawatts because I'm assuming Japan at least lost some capacity due to Second Impact.

I have the contents of the next two chapters more or less planned out, but it comes down to whether I want to upload them as I finish or whether I want to sit on them for a bit so that I have the freedom to go back and tweak things. I'm fairly certain that there's nothing in this chapter that I'm going to add and any edits will be minor, so I don't have any real reason to sit on this one. We'll see what my rate of writing is, I return to the States on the weekend but I'll be doing more traveling mid-April. This month is, busy, to say the least.

One aside, yes Soren was shooting his Glock18 in full auto. It's one of the reasons why I picked that gun for him.

Anyway, drop a review to let me know what you all think.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Due Corde

"Here."

Amanda literally snatched the aspirin from Misato's hand and downed them without bothering with the glass of water. Her head was no longer actively pounding but the aftereffects left her with a less than pleasant headache. That and memories of the sudden feedback was more than enough to make her irritable to say the least. At the same time there were officially more pressing matters than her little episode, even if Misato seemed a tad torn on the issue. Hayashima and Ritsuko's entrance into the room however stopped her friend from reiterating that concern as it was shifted to her own charge.

"Well?" the captain asked.

"He's still catatonic," Ritsuko said. "At this point I can't say when he'll wake up, but we're monitoring him. So far it looks like he's in a very deep sleep, he's not even dreaming."

"And what was the cause?" Fuyutsuki asked.

The assembled represented most of NERV's senior command staff. Only the elder Ikari was absent, but seeing the friction between himself and several others he was not exactly missed. The vice-commander was a perfectly acceptable stand in.

"I'm not sure," Ritsuko said, glancing over at the other doctor.

"I've already spoken with the other children and Asuka-san let slip something very interesting," Hayashima began. "She said that Shinji-kun was thanking her right before he collapsed. I presume you are all aware of the fact that the Second Child was the one that got him out of his previous melancholy?"

The assembled nodded, all having read the report from Shinji's last therapy session.

"Well, during our weekly therapy session Shinji-kun was unwilling to disclose what she said to him, but Asuka-san was more forthcoming. It appears that she revealed to him the fact that she witnessed her mother's suicide."

The room fell deathly quiet as each of the assembled processed the ramifications of Hayashima's revelation, each from their respective amount of information. Misato was the least informed, insomuch as she knew only about the details of Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami's death. For her this represented a remarkable opening up of the girl to someone she only met relatively recently. What she was not quite able to grasp was exactly why this would have sent Shinji into shock. Yes the Third Child had also lost his mother at a young age, but what was the connection beyond that?

Amanda, Fuyutsuki, and Ritsuko, and even Hayashima for that matter, knew exactly what that connection was and so had no trouble at all understanding just what might have happened.

"Scheiße."

Misato looked at her friend. "What?"

"One sec," Amanda said. "Doctor, how much detail did Asuka tell him?"

"Enough," Hayashima said. "She told him Shikinami-sensei hung herself on the day Asuka-san was appointed as a pilot."

The glass cup in Amanda's hand shattered and the water spilled across the table. Fortunately no one had anything on it.

"Alright," Amanda said, barely paying attention to the broken glass clattering as she opened her hand. "Ritsuko."

The other doctor glanced at her.

"Get me all of the documentation and recordings of Yui Ikari's contact experiment."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "That's, all highly classified."

"Section 5 of the UN Special Charter for NERV," Amanda said as he glanced over at Fuyutsuki. "As UN Auditor-General I have authority to call upon any data relevant to the continuing operation of NERV. While the command authority can deny my requests, final authority lies with the Committee."

Which meant SEELE, Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko, and Hayashima knew full well, and she would get the information eventually. Fuyutsuki grunted and nodded to Ritsuko.

"Please see that the Auditor-General gets what she needs."

Ritusko nodded in response, making a note to herself.

"Also, please clear Dr. Hayashima for access to the material," Amanda added.

That caused Fuyutsuki to raise an eyebrow as even if he followed the line of thinking that request derived from granting the base psychiatrist access to that information was setting a very pointed precedence.

"I'll filter the information and only let her see what is immediately relevant," Amanda amended.

That was both better and worse in terms of the precedent it would set but it did remove one avenue of objection Fuyutsuki could openly use.

"I will have to clear this with the commander," he temporalized.

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on!?" Misato exclaimed.

That she took that tone of voice with her technical superior indicated just how irritated the woman was. That and how much her nominal respect for her superiors in general had eroded over the past few months. Amanda glanced over at the vice-commander, who was looking more and more fatigued. He simply nodded to Amanda, passing the buck to her.

"You know that Dr. Yui Ikari died when Shinji was a child, correct?"

Misato nodded impatiently.

"Well, her death occurred during a contact experiment with Unit 01 to test the synchronization technology. Shinji was present and watching said experiment."

The room was again silent as the others gave Misato time to absorb the ramifications.

"He was WHAT!?"

NERV's conference rooms were all soundproofed. That was probably the only reason no one heard her halfway across HQ.

"The assumption has always been that the trauma of the memory made him suppress it," Amanda said, apparently unfazed by her friend's scream. Memory of her headache probably paid a part in her higher tolerance right now.

"But if Asuka-san's revelation has triggered it, then he would basically be experiencing all the shock and pain as if it were completely fresh," Hayashima said, playing her part.

Amanda nodded. "Looks like he's going to be undergoing that shock therapy whether we wanted that or not."

"Like hell!"

"It's out of our control," Hayashima said to the operations chief. "All of us agreed that a slow and steady approach would likely allow him to deal with his demons, but matters have escalated by themselves. Our only hope right now is that he has developed enough to withstand the shock."

Misato ground her teeth in frustration. "Damn it, there's nothing that we can do?"

"Not with him being in basically a coma," Amanda said. "If he wakes up, we can be there for him, but that's for when he wakes up."

The captain starting sighing before suddenly flinching. "Crap, what do we tell Asuka and Rei? For that matter, what about his friends?"

"The truth," Amanda stated.

All assembled look at her and the auditor shrugged.

"All of them deserve to know at least the basic truth, that Shinji watched his mother die before his eyes. Only Asuka and Rei need to know any more than that."

"I suppose," Misato said.

"Are we sure that's the wisest decision?" Ritsuko suddenly said. "If they-"

"If you bring up their sync rates Ritsuko, you and I are going to have a very long talk," Misato suddenly said.

The doctor glared at her friend. "The Children are needed to pilot the EVAs and the only way they can do so is if they maintain a high enough sync rate. While we may care about them, we can't lose sight of the bigger picture here, especially since none of the other units are ready for deployment."

"And you think hiding things from them will help?" Misato countered. "Asuka's already in a mess seeing as Shinji-kun basically collapsed on her. And Rei's been getting a lot closer to Shinji-kun. You want a guaranteed way to tank their sync rates? Try to hide from them what's happening to Shinji."

Ritsuko grimaced but conceded the point by holding up her friends.

"Anyway, Misato, you go break this to Asuka and Rei," Amanda said. "I need to start reviewing the experiment records."

"I will handle informing Pilot Ayanami," Fuyutsuki suddenly said.

The women present gave him a questioning look but Fuyutsuki was already standing and taking his leave. Amanda finally shrugged after the vice-commander was gone.

"Alright, I guess that leaves just Asuka to you."

Misato nodded.

"I will accompany you captain," Hayashima said.

"Thanks," Misato said. "Not sure how I was going to do this."

"I said I would accompany you captain," Hayashima pointed out. "I did not say I would be the one informing her."

"Right," Misato said with a sigh.

Misato headed out with Hayashima in tow, spending the entire walk over to the medical wing trying to figure out what she would say to the younger girl. It was all too easy for said explanation to come off like an accusation of Shinji's breakdown being her fault, but that was unfair to the girl. There was no way Asuka could have known about Shinji's mother or that mentioning her own would trigger this kind of episode. None of them could have known that. None of them, or did some of them? Misato slowed.

"Is something wrong captain?" Hayashima asked.

"Back then, you were the one that brought up Asuka telling Shinji-kun about her mother," Misato said as she turned to face the psychologist. "Why did you think that little bit was so important?"

Hayashima tilted her head slightly. Quite a few people underestimated the captain's perceptiveness and overall intelligence, with the unsurprising consequence of getting caught flatfooted. The doctor however had a healthy appreciation for the other woman's character and knew she needed to step very carefully, both to avoid revealing too much but also to ensure that she retained the other woman's respect and trust.

"As Shinji-kun's psychiatrist I was provided with a highly redacted version of his mother's death," Hayashima said, providing the official explanation but skirting the truth. "That version was extremely short on details but it included the fact that he was present. The parallel between his experience and that of Asuka-san was, telling. I presume Sommer-san also thought likewise."

Misato regarded the woman for a few seconds before nodding.

"That makes sense, I suppose. So, as his guardian, why was I not informed of that rather critical detail?"

To this Hayashima shrugged. "I do not know. I was provided the information by Sommer-san as part of my brief for Shinji-kun and even ignoring the highly classified nature of the information, I am also ethically bound by doctor-patient confidentiality. And to be frank I was not aware of whether you did or did not know about this."

"So take it up with Amanda," Misato said with a wiry smile.

"That would probably be more productive."

With a sigh Misato turned back around and headed to their original destination. Within a few minutes she was standing before Asuka, the girl looking uneasy and twitchy.

"What."

Misato sighed. This was going to be even harder than she thought.

"First, an introduction," the captain said, adding another minor delay to the inevitable. "This is Hayashima Hitomi-sensei, the base psychologist."

Asuka bowed respectfully and Hayashima returned the gesture with a nod.

"For the past couple of months Shinji-kun has been having therapy sessions with her," Misato continued. "We've been trying to help him, well, in much the same way that Amanda helped you back in Germany."

The redhead gave Misato a tolerant look but made clear that she did not especially want to be reminded too much about her own personal traumas, even if they were healing. Scar tissue was not a pleasant sight after all.

"Anyway," Misato went on, "Dr. Hayashima believes she knows why Shinji-kun collapsed like that."

Asuka's gaze shifted to Hayashima but the psychiatrist was already looking pointedly at Misato, making it clear that she would not be able to pass the buck like this. Misato sighed, drawing Asuka's attention back to her.

"You know that Shinji-kun's mother died when he was young?" Misato asked.

Asuka nodded. "And he got stuck with that asshole father of his."

"Well, he shares another similarity with you," Misato said. "Shinji-kun, was there when his mother died, and he saw it all happen."

The redhead's eyes grew wide.

"We, think he's been suppressing his memory of that all this time," Misato continued, "and that it got triggered, when he found out you experienced something similar."

Asuka was silent for several more seconds. And then she emulated her role model almost unerringly as she spewed forth more curses than Misato knew existed in the German language.

* * *

Rei stood from her seat and bowed before leaving. Fuyutsuki sighed but remained facing away, looking out at the fantastic view of the Geofront. At this point in time he found himself utterly incapable of appreciating it.

"What a mess we find ourselves in," he muttered.

"We always knew complications would arise," Gendo stated.

Fuyutsuki turned to look at his old student. "Oh? And since when did the incapacitation of your son equate a simple complication, Ikari?"

"There is yet to be any indication that his incapacitation is permanent, professor," Gendo replied nonchalantly.

""Ikari, be serious here. If Hayashima-sensei and Sommer-san are right about what triggered your son's incapacitation, what makes you think he would be willing to get back into Unit 01?"

"If he refuses then he is of no use to us. But Shinji has established many attachments here that he would be loath to give up. Did you know that formal guardianship of the boy has been passed to Captain Katsuragi?"

"I thought you had transferred guardianship to the captain when Shinji-kun first arrived?"

"I did. However, recently Shinji was also moved to Katsuragi's family register."

The slight arching of Fuyutsuki's eyebrow said it all. "That seems like a rather drastic action for her to tack."

"Indeed. She was prompted to it by Sommer."

"Ah." Fuyutsuki sighed again. "SEELE's watchdog has been extremely creative in how she undermines our authority."

"Her efforts have only caused minor disruptions, nothing else. The ultimate goal of Instrumentality remains uncompromised."

The older man snorted. "Be realistic, Ikari. What makes you honestly believe we still retain that much control over the scenario? Or are you going to claim, had Unit 01 actually awoken during the battle with Ramiel, we would have been ready?"

"No one would have been ready for it, professor," Gendo said. "But Unit 01 did not awaken then. We have no need to dwell on what ifs."

"That is uncharacteristically optimistic of you," Fuyutsuki said. "Our control over the scenario is contingent on our ability to control and predict the actions of the principals and the consequences of their actions. If all our profiles and projections turn out to be worthless, then we cannot guarantee that the necessary conditions we need for Instrumentality will come to pass."

"I am well aware of that," Gendo said. "But you and I both know that the instruments we do need are few and specific. If Shinji can guide Unit 01 to its awakening, then we will have won."

Fuyutsuki's frown turned into disbelief. "You can't mean?"

Gendo smirked. Apotheosis in the form he desired was far simpler than SEELE's grand vision. It would be interesting to see whether the old men and their pawns understood that.

* * *

The observation deck was in an absolute panic with men and women scrambling about ineffectually as alarms blared. Down in the chamber others looked on helplessly. Some were at least trying, pounding away at the entry plug controls to try to initiate an emergency ejection. Their frantic action however suggested any such attempt was being met with futility. Amidst all the activity it was all too easy to miss a lone figure pressed against the observation deck's window, crying helplessly. There was three year old Shinji Ikari, watching as his mother was ripped away from him. Not one person stopped to try to comfort the boy or pull him away from all the horror. The video ended with him on his knees, trying to push past the glass to reach his mother.

Amanda and Hayashima sat silently for several moments after the video screen went blank. The auditor-general was the first to speak her mind.

"Those bastards."

Hayashima tilted her head in agreement. "We should probably not show this to Captain Katsuragi or Asuka-san."

"Agreed on Asuka," Amanda said. "Misato on the other hand…"

It was remarkable just how much information could be exchanged in those intentional lapses even without the collective's backdoors to each other. Hayashima nodded, understanding immediately what Amanda was getting at. She also frowned.

"That seems a bit risky."

This time Amanda did shift to the mental link even as she verbally acknowledged Hayashima's concerns. As far as the bugs were concerned the auditor was promising to take the doctor's warnings under advisement. The real response was more direct.

"I've already dropped plenty of hints about a relationship of some kind between Rei and Shinji's mother. The moment Misato sees that recording of Yui, she'll connect enough of the dots, maybe even all of them."

"You are not worried that once she gets close to the truth she won't go on a rampage of righteous fury?"

"I'm thinking it'll be the perfect vector through which to recruit her," Amanda said. "Right now Misato is being borderline insubordinate to protest what she feels is her superiors' callousness towards her charges. Imagine what she could do if she decided to be outright subversive? There's little question that the entire Operations Department would go right along with her, minus Ikari's and SEELE's plants. We already have Section-2. Combined with Section-1, well, that's two of the three major sections under our control."

Hayashima nodded, in both the mental conversation and in the real world.

"But I thought you were going to bring Katsuragi-san over eventually anyway?"

"Yes, and the problem was always one of timing, specifically having her become sufficiently disillusioned with NERV to be willing to betray it. If we can achieve that without the trauma of losing so many of her loved ones, I'm all for it."

The nod this time was firmer as Hayashima acknowledged Amanda's points.

"Then is there anything else you wish for me to see?" Hayashima asked in both places.

"Not right now," Amanda said, shifting back to the real world. "I'll keep you updated as need be."

The auditor's computer pinged to indicate a new message.

"If you'll excuse me, I've been summoned to make a report to the full Committee."

AKA SEELE as both knew full well.

Hayashima took her leave and Amanda locked her office before heading deeper into the base. The room she was headed to was probably one of the most secure, and expensive on a square meter basis, in the entire Geofront. The measures taken to shield it meant that no stray signal could penetrate and literally no sound could leak out. The telecommunications equipment inside was hardened against EM interference to the maximum extent human technology was capable of and was one of the first to use quantum encryption. In theory not even the MAGI would be able to eavesdrop on this system. As if all that were not enough an additional layer of active defenses was in place that would literally fry any electronics brought into the room, which required that anyone entering leave any such equipment outside. And then there were the rumors of a kill switch installed inside to purge the room if intruders did manage to breach the titanium-ceramic composite walls that wrapped the room. SEELE's paranoia was impressively thorough if nothing else.

Only a few people had direct access to the room in question, Ikari of course as the base commander and Amanda ostensibly because she was the auditor-general. Not even Fuyutsuki could walk in without either Ikari or Amanda authorizing it beforehand. On the other hand Soren actually did have access, assuming he managed to make it past the other security checkpoints, which he actually could do assuming he used his black access cards. Today however Amanda would once again be facing SEELE alone.

Passing through the biometric scanners, Amanda entered the still lit room and took her place at the desk in the center. Once seated she tapped the console to announce her presence and the room fell dark. A moment later the twelve monoliths that represented SEELE appeared.

"Auditor Sommer," Kiel began. "It would appear that an unexpected development has occurred in Tokyo-3."

Amanda nodded. "The Third Child is comatose. We are not sure when he will awaken."

"The incapacitation of an EVA pilot is not acceptable," SEELE 04 grated. "You were responsible for ensuring the younger Ikari remained fit for duty and now this is happened."

Amanda raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the monolith in question. How typical of an American to be the first one to want to cast blame.

"What is the status of Unit 03?" Amanda asked.

"What does that have to-" SEELE 04 began.

Amanda cut him off. "Based on the Dead Sea Scrolls we always knew that three EVAs might not be enough to defeat all the Angels. That is why the production run for the frontline EVAs ran to six, to give us sufficient redundancy. And yet thus far only three are present at Tokyo-3, one of which is a prototype unit barely capable of combat and the other the substitute for Lilith that we cannot afford to lose. NERV-Berlin at least got one of its two EVAs ready for deployment. So, where are Units 03 and 04?"

A very uncomfortable silence fell as Amanda called out the American members of SEELE for their branches' inability to deliver on the promised EVA units. In the case of Unit 03 at least they had the excuse of it being a test bed for the S2 engine. Unit 04 on the other hand should have been ready at about the same time as Unit 02. Amanda sneered at the lack of response and plowed on.

"The Third's incapacitation is an established fact. What is necessary now is to prepare for the consequences, not waste time complaining about it."

"You have an idea regarding that?" SEELE 07 said.

Amanda glanced over at the monolith and wondered idly whether SEELE 07 actually cared a wit for Shinji himself. Hiroto Ikari was after all the boy's maternal grandfather. Then again seeing his lack of concern for the boy after his mother's death, the man was likely as fixated on Instrumentality as Gendo Ikari. It said sad things when Shinji likely got his protective and caring side from Gendo than his mother's side of the family. Then again Yui might have also gotten hers from her mother before passing it onto Shinji.

"I have a pretty good idea what Commander Ikari was trying to do with Shinji," Amanda said. "He sought to increase the boy's sense of isolation and estrangement from people in general. This served two purposes, the first was to limit the bonds Shinji possessed so as to make him more eager to embrace the EVA. In theory the more the boy sought to embrace the EVA, the higher his synchronization rate would be. The second purpose was to try and control with whom Shinji did bond with. Specifically, Ikari sought to bring his son closer to Rei Ayanami."

It was a shame that Amanda could not see the physical reactions of the SEELE council. If the strangled noises a few were making was any indication, that little bombshell of hers was having quite the effect.

"For what purpose?" SEELE 07 managed to get out.

"Ikari is convinced that his son can awaken Unit 01," Amanda said, intentionally using just the last name without any qualifiers or differentiators. "He nearly did so when trying to protect Rei during the battle against Ramiel and back then Shinji barely knew the girl. After having spent so much time with her, what lengths do you think he is prepared to go for her sake?"

The parallel was eerie in the extreme and more than one member of the council felt almost frightened of what this combination entailed.

"We should never have given Ikari such leeway," SEELE 03 muttered.

"We had little choice at the time," SEELE 07 countered. "We needed someone to continue his wife's work and he was the only one who understood it completely."

Interesting that the eldest Ikari referred to Yui as Gendo's wife and not his own daughter, Amanda mused. She knew that in Kiel's case he habitually referred to her as his granddaughter.

"Regardless we still need Shinji to pilot if he is able to," Amanda stated. "Rei might be able to pilot Unit 01, but it is highly doubtful that Shinji could successfully synchronize with Unit 00."

"The risk is too great," SEELE 11 protested.

"The risk is manageable," Amanda countered, "isn't that why we have Unit 06 and the Spear?"

Another moment of silence passed as Amanda dragged out another of SEELE's trump cards. The old men were not used to someone being so casual with their secrets and their discomfort was palatable even without any visual indication. The monoliths really were a tad overdramatic and served more to indicate their need to hide their anxieties than present any sort of ominous visage.

"Or is that unit also delayed?" Amanda said with half a sneer.

"Commander Iver has assured us that deployment of the Mark 6 is on schedule," SEELE 09 said defensively. "It will be ready when the time comes."

"And do any of you know when that time will be?" Amanda asked.

None could answer her and Amanda restrained a snort.

"I would recommend that a means be established to allow me to call upon Unit 06 before it has been transferred to Tokyo-3," Amanda said. "The lag will only be about a second and it should take Unit 06 approximately, twenty minutes to arrive, give or take five minutes or so depending of course on the position of the moon relative to the city."

And on the expected date of arrival for the Angel of Might the moon would be positioned just right to minimize that time to a scant fifteen minutes. Getting the timing right would be on her. Too early and Unit 06 might arrive to finish off the Angel itself. Too late and the damage to the world from a near Third Impact might push humanity to the brink of extinction and destroy all of the goodwill Shinji had built up. Granted they had wanted her to be the one that made the call, but it felt as if every success they achieved only served to make things more damn complicated.

"That would be acceptable," Kiel finally said. "It is good that you have given such thought to contingencies."

"Hope for the best, plan for the worst," Amanda said. "At this point we know fully well that Ikari will betray us. We simply need to be prepared to remove him once his hindrance outweighs his usefulness and have contingencies in place to ensure his plans do not come to fruition until that point."

This time the grunts were of agreement. Amanda suppressed her smile. The old men were remarkably shortsighted when it came to their own ambition.

* * *

Soren had had worse days in his present life. A couple of remarkably close calls while on fieldwork for SEELE came to mind, including one where he ended up in the middle of a three-way gunfight between Islamic terrorists, Russian nationalists, and a Cossacks host of all things. The end result had not been pretty and when Soren finally extricated himself out of that mess after accomplishing his mission he had gone about four days without much sleep. Even that paled in comparison to the pounding that had hit his head yesterday. He was quite fortunate that he had been sitting around reading the paper at the time.

The backlash from Shinji had come as a surprise and a mildly irritating one at that. The mental connection to the pilots was always going to be somewhat risky as the greater they synchronized the more emotions and even thoughts might bleed over. Initially neither he nor Amanda had connected that strongly with their younger counterparts, content simply to watch out for any major spikes of emotional pain. That they were only looking for spikes of pain, not spikes of emotions in general, was how they had missed Shinji's budding relationship with Mayumi. After that little cockup the decision was made to increase their synchronization, not nearly as high as what Soren or Amanda had with each other or even with the other members of the collective, but high enough that they could detect the next time either of the pilots' hearts went aflutter, or so the theory went.

Of course the increased synchronization meant the two were also much more exposed to any major trauma the pilots experienced. For those instances that they knew about beforehand they could dial down the synchronization at that moment to avoid the backlash. For those that happened spontaneously, like Shinji recalling his mother's death, there was very little defense against. The strength of that particular memory had not just hit Soren hard, it had leaked over to his connection to Amanda and nearly into the wider collective. The two of them had managed to keep that from happening, barely, but it was a near thing seeing as Soren had nearly gotten knocked out by the initial hit.

"There are times," Soren muttered.

"Oh chin up," Amanda said. "We've still got a job to do."

That was true enough though Soren was the one that was going to be doing all the work. At the moment he was in his robes and preparing to get into a large container placed on the bed. Amanda was seated at the side waiting.

"So, how is he?" she asked.

"Still crying," Soren replied. "He's been stuck in a sort of endless loop for a while now. At this point lack of stimuli is preventing him from breaking out, but he's buried his consciousness so deep that nothing external can reach him."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're here," Amanda said.

Soren nodded. "I really was not expecting to have to do this so early."

"None of us were. And let's be frank, we were really hoping this wouldn't be necessary to begin with. I guess we got sloppy after we got Asuka over the hump without needing to do this."

Soren snorted. "A shame that Shinji's mental state was such a mess that we could not intervene and adjust it beforehand."

Amanda's eyes narrowed. "You knew the risks. If we screwed up we could have turned him into a psychopath."

"My dear, we might end up doing that anyway. Look at how I turned out."

His wife's eyes narrowed dangerously but Amanda did not reprimand him. Soren tossed aside the robe, revealing his nude form before climbing onto the container and making himself as comfortable as he could.

"If this takes a while you'll need to sleep on the couch," he said.

"Then don't take a while," she retorted.

"Would that it be my choice," Soren said.

With that he closed his eyes. For a moment nothing happened and it looked like the man was simply sleeping. And then his body fell apart, turning into an orangish liquid and filling the container. Amanda simply sat there watching, feeling the link to her husband dim ever so slightly as he dove into the mind of another. She held tightly to that link still, ready to help if the need arose.

* * *

The darkness was all encompassing to the point of almost stifling, not that the previous occupant seemed to notice. He was curled up in a ball, clutching his knees and burying his head in his legs. It was, to put it mildly, a rather pathetic sight and one that elicited memories that Soren was more than happy to forget. But he was here to do a job and the younger Ikari needed his help, so he sucked it up and stepped toward the boy. Even here the sound of sobbing was evident, though as he got closer his own footsteps began echoing and overshadowing the crying. The boy of course paid him no need.

Once before the boy, the size disparity between them became much more evident. There Soren stood, a rather scrawny looking 14-year old Japanese boy in a white shirt and black plants. Before him was another boy, about the age of 3, curled up. Soren tilted his head thoughtfully. Getting the boy's attention would be the first step in waking him and for that there was only one thing that would do now.

"Shinji."

The voice that called out was not Soren's nor Shinji's. It was a voice buried deep within their fragmented memories, one that Shinji barely remembered and Soren did not really care to remember. The boy stirred.

"Shinji."

Slowly, Shinji loosened his hands and peered up slightly. His eyes cracked open slightly but there was no life in them. Soren would be amazed if the boy actually saw anything through them.

The voice echoed again. "Never forget..."

It was doubtful whether the boy was even consciously responding. He was probably only responding reflexively, the voice striking some primal cord within him.

"…the promise that we made…"

The boy blinked, his eyes starting to clear up a bit.

"…whatever happens from here on…"

The blinking became more rapid and Shinji looked up. His eyes widened as he saw not the woman he expected but, himself.

"Wha," Shinji uttered.

"Wha," Soren mirrored simultaneously.

"Who-who-"

"-are you?"

With perfect timing and inflections Soren mirrored the boy's words.

"What-what do you mean, I-"

"-I'm Ikari Shinji."

Shinji looked on, his confusion enough to anchor him in lucidity. It was not likely to last long though so Soren pulled another voice from memory.

"Baka Shinji!"

Shinji jumped as the clear, bright voice echoed about the two of them.

"Who-who's-"

"-there!"

"Ikari-kun."

The moment of panic passed and Shinji calmed at the quieter voice. And then an even quieter one called out.

"Shinji."

The boy flinched at that last one and nearly shot to his feet. Even here though his body behaved as if he really had spent forever crunched up and Shinji stumbled, falling flat onto his ass. His loss of balance did not seem to faze him however.

"Asuka," Shinji muttered. "Ayanami."

"Mayumi."

The boy's eyes seemed to lose focus again but it was in thought instead of his mind simply going blank.

"I couldn't save her."

"I let her die."

"Everyone left me."

"First mother, then father."

"Then Mayumi."

Shinji ground his teeth and as he did so he shed his form. This time the boy managed to stand on his own and when he was upright his eyes were level with Soren's.

"I don't want to be alone," Soren echoed.

"But people keep leaving me," Shinji snapped out.

"I don't have anyone left."

"People keep hurting me."

"No one loves me."

"I don't care!"

The scream seemed to drain Shinji and he collapsed back onto his knees.

"I don't care," both repeated.

"Cry for yourself! But don't you dare forget that we are still here!"

Shinji jerked again, looking up as that bright and clear voice cut through his haze.

"My mother died when I was four years old."

Shinji clutched his head as another burst of searing pain hit him.

"She hung herself the same day I found out I was going to be an EVA pilot."

"AHHHHHHH!"

"When she died, I didn't have anyone there for me."

"Stop it!"

"Back then I lost someone I love and no one was there for me."

"STOP! PLEASE!"

"You just lost someone you love."

Shinji collapsed, still holding his head. His breathing was heavy but it was far from ragged.

"But you've got me."

The boy sucked in a deep breath.

"Cry for her."

And he tried.

"Cry for yourself!"

He tried, he tried to cry. For himself, for her, for whichever her it was.

"But don't you dare forget that we are still here!"

Shinji whimpered.

"That I am still here!"

But now the tears finally came, tears that carried with them all the sorrow that he had long forgotten was buried in his heart.

"Asuka," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," Soren finished for him. And smiled.

* * *

Soren rose from the container and saw his wife in the same spot she had been the night before. Light was peeking through the windows as the dawning sun rose.

"Hey."

Amanda's eyes opened and she looked at him, alert and without a hint of sleepiness.

"You done?"

Soren smiled slightly but before he could answer Amanda's cellphone began ringing.

"Hello?"

A few moments passed as she listened intently.

"Alright, I'll be down there right away." Flipping the phone shut Amanda stood. "Gotta run, it seems the Third Child has awakened. I need to get down there before Asuka finds out."

Soren chuckled. "The Fraulein is most spirited."

Amanda snorted. Before she left though she walked over to her husband and gave him a tender kiss.

"Dummkopf."

The yelling was audible from down the hall and quite a few other patients, nurses, and doctors were idling about. Despite their obvious curiosity none seemed quite willing to approach the source of all the screaming. In fact one of the doctors looked absolutely relieved at seeing Amanda.

"Oh, Sommer-san! Thank goodness you're here! Shikinami-san's been yelling since she arrived!"

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "It took me twenty minutes to get here. Are you saying Asuka's been yelling at Shinji the entire time?"

"No, she hasn't been allowed inside," the doctor assured her. "Currently Kaji-san is trying to placate her."

"Girl's got lungs," Amanda remarked. "And Misato?"

"She arrived some five minutes ago and went in immediately."

"-and why the hell should I stay outside when that shota was allowed inside damnation I have every right to see Shinji as her more so seeing as I'm a fellow pilot and-"

"I see," Amanda said with a sigh. "Well, I'll see what I can do."

The woman made her way toward the room, Asuka's unbroken diatribe growing louder and louder with every step. It was a wonder the girl was even breathing the way she was going on. Once the girl actually came into view it was quite the sight. Kaji was doing his best to calm the girl but he was slowly getting backed against the door. Then again that might have been a strategic move on his part since with him blocking the way Asuka could not charge in. Sighing Amanda walked over and delivered a nice, solid bop on the girl's head.

"Ack!" the girl cried out as she bit her tongue.

"That's enough out of you," Amanda said.

The girl tried to utter something but it came out as complete gibberish thanks to her stinging tongue.

"Yo, Amanda," Kaji greeted with palatable relief.

"Ryoji," Amanda said.

"How is he?"

"Awake, but somewhat incoherent," Kaji said. "He was crying when the nurse found him and it's been on and off since then."

"Well, that's better than him being in a coma," Amanda said with a sigh.

Soren might have succeeded in pulling the boy out of that but it was fairly obvious that Shinji was still a wreck. The woman checked her watch. Approximately eight hours and counting.

"Asuka, shouldn't you be heading to school?" Amanda asked the redhead.

"Not goin'," the girl said, working around the pain.

"Asuka…"

"I'm not going!" Asuka shouted. "Not until you let me through that door!"

Now that was a slightly weird reaction, Amanda thought. "Why is it so important for you to see, or I suppose talk to, Shinji?"

"Because, because, because he's my responsibility!"

The two adults blinked and for once Amanda was at a genuine loss as to explain the girl's actions. The bundle of emotions emanating from Asuka was, weird, to say the least, and was so jumbled up that Amanda could not make any sense of it. There was guilt, there was righteous fury, there was worry, and was that a tiny bit of pride? Good god she had better not turned the girl into some kind of sadist or Klinge would go ballistic.

"Asuka, you'll need to explain that," Amanda said.

The girl grabbed her hair and started tugging as she paced back and forth. She then spun to a precise stop before the two adults.

"He's in there because of me! I mean, this isn't my fault be he's still in there because of me, not because I'm the cause of anything but because of what I said, I mean, gah!"

At this point Amanda was looking at her protégé with more than a bit of concern.

"Asuka?"

"He's hurting!" Asuka screeched, her eyes no longer the clear blue they normally were. "I can feel him hurting in there and I can't do a damn thing about it!"

Amanda sucked in her breath as her eyes widened. Several kilometers away Soren dropped the towel he was drying himself off with. Several thousand kilometers away Klinge jerked up from her bed wide awake. They all converged on one thought.

Scheiße.

Amanda pulled out her cell. "Ritsuko? EKG and pattern analyzers down here at Shinji's room, now. Two sets. Just get a move on it, I'll explain once you're here."

Kaji, astute as ever, also looked at the redhead in surprise and not a little concern.

"Are you saying?" he began.

"I sure as hell hope not," Amanda said, cutting him, her attention fixed on Asuka the entire time. "Asuka? What do you mean you feel him hurting?"

"That dummkopf's crying in there!" Asuka shouted once more. "It's, it's, gott it feels like my heart is tearing itself apart!"

"Asuka, calm down," Amanda said, taking hold of the girl by her shoulders. "Breathe, breathe."

The girl did so, her quick, near hyperventilating breaths turning into longer ones. The flushing of her face also began to recede.

"That's good," Amanda said. "You panicking won't help Shinji, so you need to stay calm. Look at me, look at me!"

The girl obeyed. Blue met blue as the two looked into each other's eyes and Amanda watched the frenzy subside somewhat.

"Focus on yourself, Asuka," she said. "Shinji's hurting, but you're not. Hold onto your strength, your will, and you'll help keep him from hurting even more, alright?"

Asuka huffed and nodded hurriedly. The girl's face had a sheen of sweat over it but she was slowly relaxing. Very slowly if her breathing was any indication.

"Alright," Amanda said, standing back up. "Ryoji, get Asuka situated in the room next door. If anyone is already in there get the doctors to move them, pull rank if you have to."

"Got it."

Amanda waited long enough for the two to enter the next room before entering Shinji's. No need to give Asuka a chance to panic and try to charge in. Inside she found Shinji sobbing, but it was a gentle sob instead of a hysterical one. He clung onto Misato who had propped herself on the side of the bed.

"Amanda," Misato said gratefully. "Good thing you're here."

"You don't know the half of it," the woman said. "How is he?"

"Better now, he was going to pieces just before you came in."

Amanda nodded. That made sense, if Asuka and Shinji's emotions were feeding off of one another and they got caught into a negative feedback loop.

"Alright. Shinji?"

The boy stirred ever so slightly, indicating that he hat least heard her.

"Breathe, Shinji," Amanda instructed. "Just breathe right now."

Shinji obeyed, his breaths longer now and becoming slightly less haggard.

"That's good. Just keep breathing."

"A-Asuka," Shinji groaned.

"What is going on here?" Misato hissed.

"It looks like Asuka and Shinji have somehow synchronized with each other," Amanda said quietly, "outside of the EVA."

Misato's eyes widened though the woman was able to keep her tone down, somewhat. "How is that even possible!?"

"I don't know," Amanda lied most convincingly, "but I'm getting Ritsuko down here. Hopefully we'll be able to break this synchronization, but we need to keep the two level headed. If Shinji loses it again it could break Asuka's self-control and if they both lose it we might never pull them back out."

The other woman's grip on Shinji tightened as she contemplated that possibility.

"Keep holding him like that," Amanda advised. "Stay by him, be there for him."

"I will."

Amanda nodded and took her leave. The moment the door closed behind her she pulled out her cell again.

"This is Sommer. Get Rei in here on standby now."

"Ma'am?" Makoto responded, uncertain.

"Both Asuka and Shinji are incapacitated right now," Amanda explained. "That means we only have one pilot available. If an Angel hits us now we need to be as ready as we can."

"Yes ma'am!"

Hanging up, Amanda checked the time again. Seven and a half hours and counting, assuming the damn Angel came according to plan. Precious little else was going the way it should.

* * *

"Your report, doctor," Gendo prompted.

"There's still not enough data to be conclusive," Ritsuko said, "but preliminary analysis suggests the two pilots are somehow synchronized with each other."

"And this is possible, how?" the commander pressed.

Ritsuko shook her head. "I have no idea. My guess, and this really is just a guess, is that this is an aftereffect of their synchronization from their battles against the Sixth and Seventh Angels."

"That can't be it," Amanda interjected. "Humans can't synchronize to each other like that."

"Humans aren't supposed to be able to," Ritsuko said. "We're now being faced with a counterpoint."

"So, what can we do for them?" Misato asked.

Dragging her away from either pilot had not been easy to say the least. Ultimately Amanda had called in Hayashima to watch over the boy while Asuka was left in Kaji's hands.

"I don't know," Ritsuko said. "I can't even begin to hypothesize on what the long term effects of this will be. For that matter I don't even know what the short term effects are. Their emotions are bleeding into each other and they're having trouble sorting out who is feeling what. Amanda managed to calm Asuka down so her own panic isn't feeding into Shinji's grief, but the Second is still taking a beating mentally. She's strong, a lot stronger than I might have given her credit for, but it's taking its toll."

That Amanda knew all too well.

"What would happen if they attempted to pilot?" Gendo asked.

The grounding of teeth was actually audible but Misato held her peace, if only because of a very stern talking to by Amanda before the meeting.

"I have no idea whether they'd even be able to synchronize with their EVAs," Ritsuko admitted.

"Wait," Amanda said, eyes narrowing. "Humans can't synchronize with each other, but they can synchronize with EVAs. Can EVAs synchronize with each other?"

The room was eerily silent for several moments before Ritsuko cleared her throat.

"You are suggesting that the link between the two are through their EVAs?" Ritsuko asked.

"Well unless you have a better idea," Amanda said. "If it is the cause, then that might tell us how to break that connection."

"More information is needed," Gendo stated. "Doctor, proceed with tests on the pilots. First priority is to determine if they are at all able to pilot in this state."

Ritsuko nodded in acknowledgment. Misato ground her teeth again. Amanda checked her watch. Four hours and counting. Once Ikari, Fuyutsuki, and Ritsuko were gone she turned to Misato.

"We should probably try to get them to eat something," she said. "Rei too, she's been on standby since the morning."

"Right," Misato said, the tension draining somewhat from her. "That was a good call, even if we didn't end up needing it."

"Better safe than sorry," Amanda replied.

Misato chuckled, the first humor she was able to enjoy today. "I should get back down to the medical wing."

"Before that," Amanda said. "There's something you should see."

The woman cocked her head questioningly but followed her friend. They soon arrived in the auditor's office and Amanda planted Misato in her chair.

"What's going on?" Misato asked.

Without a word Amanda took out a very sturdy looking metal briefcase. Once unlocked and opened it revealed a rather complex looking piece of electronics. Amanda punched in a few numbers on the pad and Misato felt a slight tingling of her hair.

"Amanda?"

"A little gift from Generalmajor Klinge," the woman said.

Misato inhaled sharply at the mention of the head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst. Her eyes narrowed.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"First, watch this."

Amanda opened up the video file on her computer and Misato reluctantly shifted to do as she was told. A few seconds later her attention was focused solely on the unfolding scene. She watched as a brunette with shoulder length hair wearing some kind of bodysuit wave. She watched the same woman enter what had to be an entry plug. Moments later said entry plug disappeared into a shrouded structure. Then came the alarms, the scrambling of people, and that tiny figure pounding frantically away at the glass. And then the clip ended. Misato sat unmoving for several minutes but the grip she held on the armrest said it all. And then she verbalized those thoughts.

"Those sons of bitches."

"About my reaction," Amanda said.

"That woman, she's Shinji-kun's mother?"

The auditor nodded. "Yes."

"So, she's Ikari Yui? Or Ayanami Yui?"

"As far as I can tell they're one and the same."

Misato's eyes narrowed dangerously. "The only way their ages work is if Rei and Shinji are twins. Are they?"

"That'd require a DNA test," Amanda said.

"But you have the means to carry one out. Or at least your Major-General does." It was not a question.

"Well, yes," Amanda allowed.

"So, when are you going to run that test?"

Amanda regarded Misato. "Do I need to?"

"Of course you need to!" Misato exploded, glaring at her friend. "This is huge! Rei could be Shinji's sister!"

"Could be. In fact she probably is. But we don't really need DNA confirmation of that, and trying to get it would be all sorts of complicated." There was Lilith's DNA mixed in with Yui's in Rei after all. "Tell me, do you really need that confirmation yourself?"

"I-I…" Misato fell silent for a few moments before shaking her head. "No, I don't need it."

Amanda smiled slightly. "Now tell me something else. Are you on the side of the Children, or are you on NERV's side?"

Misato now regarded her friend very warily. "What is THAT supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. NERV has an agenda and it is using the Children to achieve it. At some point you need to decide whether you want to serve that agenda, or whether the Children are more important."

The captain snapped. "Is that what all your previous prodding was for? As some kind of test? Or maneuvering me for some kind of fall? Well fuck you Amanda, you are NOT going to play me on this. If you think you'll get me away from the Children due to some lack of objectiveness you can go screw yourself!"

Despite herself Amanda nearly burst out laughing. What Misato said was damn near gibberish as it seesawed back and forth.

"Good," she said instead with a bright smile. "That means I can count on you to watch over the Children when the shit really hits the fan."

Misato blinked. "What?"

"Oh come on Misato! Do you really have that low of an opinion of me? Remember, I watched over Asuka and Mari back in Germany to make sure they grew up as well adjusted as they could be. I've been mentoring Shinji since I arrived and been trying to get you to take on more responsibility for him. Do you really think I'm that sick that I'd do this for some inane political or bureaucratic agenda?"

"Weren't you the one that told me I needed to remember what NERV's goal was?" Misato retorted.

"Quite," Amanda said. "But look at it this way. What's the point of saving the world if there is no one left to inherit it?"

Misato regarded her friend levelly for several moments before slumping down into the chair. "You have a hell of a way of recruiting people into your little conspiracy."

"Hmm? What conspiracy?" Amanda asked innocently.

The other woman snorted. "Your scrambler? A little 'gift' from the head of the BND? How long have you been an agent for them?"

"Ah well this is this and that is that," Amanda said in her most sincere tone, eliciting another snort from her friend. "In all seriousness, we'll discuss it later. We still need to figure out how to untangle Asuka and Shinji."

"Right," Misato said as she pulled herself up. "I suppose I should thank you for showing me that but I think you'll excuse me if I don't do that right now. Maybe after this mess is over."

Amanda nodded and moved aside to let Misato out. It was then that the alarms began blaring.

"Pattern blue detected!" Aoba announced over the PA. "Command staff to the command center!"

"Oh hell," Misato muttered. "Not now."

Amanda glanced at her watch and her eyes narrowed. They should have had hours more to prepare. Apparently the Angel was not feeling particularly accommodating. Then again, Matarael should be a cakewalk even if Rei was alone. Unless that was also about to undergo a revision. Amanda raced after her friend, mentally cursing the mess that they had all been caught up in.

End of Chapter 14

And things get even more complicated. Anyone else still think that things are going to keep going smoothly for the sidesteppers? The battle against Matarael should be quite interesting. There haven't been that many full-fledged battles in this story yet and I'll enjoy seeing how well I can do one.

Hmm, I really don't have much to say this time. This current arc will take maybe another chapter or so to wrap up, then some filler to level things out, and then we're in for another ride with the Kirishima scenario.

Aside: No one has figured out which restaurant they've been going to?

Anyway, drop me a line to let me know what you think.

Z98

Addendum: Mildly irritated at all of the spelling mistakes that crept into this chapter. Here's an updated upload. Also, I'm traveling again next week and in that case I really don't think I'll be getting a new chapter ready.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Segue

In another time and place in order to acquire detailed information about the Geofront's systems an unidentified third party would have launched a very clever yet relatively unsophisticated cyberattack upon NERV. That said attack came at the same time as an Angel attack would have been a very unhappy coincidence for all involved, though said third party would never admit to the anxiety and perspiration they underwent when news of that little coincidence reached them. This time however the need for such subterfuge was eliminated thanks to one Amanda Sommer.

One of the first things Amanda had done upon arriving at NERV was pull a copy of NERV's system layout from the MAGI using her override codes. This was then routed back to the BND where one Generalmajor Margaret Klinge then forwarded it onto their respective paymasters. Thus as far as SEELE was concerned they possessed all the information they needed to take NERV, either by sleight of hand or force, once the time came. Of course once said time did come SEELE might be just a bit put out by the inaccuracy of that layout. The original backdoor they possessed would also prove useless as one of the second things Amanda did was patch it, a patch developed courtesy of the BND's Technische Unterstützung directorate.

In fact application of that patch had been part of a much wider system audit that Amanda undertook under the auspices of her duty as the UN Auditor-General. She had conducted a similar audit while at NERV-Berlin, turning up literally hundreds if not thousands of security holes in that organization's infrastructure. The Siemens contractors and representatives responsible for the various industrial systems used at the Third Branch still shuddered at the thrashing Amanda had delivered when the preliminary report was completed. And then there was her reaction to finding out Siemens was not willing to patch many of said vulnerabilities. That one went all the way up to the company's board of directors, who nearly shat themselves when Amanda threatened to decertify all of the company's products in use at NERV, which would have resulted in the company being found in violation of its contracts with the UN and thus subject to punitive monetary sanctions.

In the end a joint workgroup had been put together involving Siemens programmers, NERV technicians, and a few off-record BND developers, all headed by one of the managers that ran the development team that wrote software for the US space shuttle, that went through and audited, fixed, or even rewrote a significant amount of code that underpinned the industrial controllers used throughout NERV-Berlin and NERV-Hamburg. The result was a remarkably resilient industrial infrastructure that had yet to suffer from a single breach since the rollout of the first wave of updates two years ago. The second wave was just getting pushed out when Amanda was reassigned to NERV-Tokyo and the auditor made sure to bring a copy of the reports along with her.

Amanda's rampage through NERV-Berlin had not gone unnoticed at the other branches and the contractors from Mitsubishi had panicked somewhat upon hearing her of imminent arrival. In an attempt to head Amanda off they rushed through their own audit that while noting some issues otherwise gave NERV-Tokyo a relatively clean bill of health. Amanda did not even bother reading the report, subjecting HQ's systems to her own battery of tests. Her own conclusions were considerably less flattering and at least one mid-level manager was sacked for trying to whitewash the situation.

With the arrival of the Angels however there was simply no time to attempt a major overhaul of NERV-Tokyo's systems and so Amanda settled for doing what she could to harden HQ's IT systems and slip in a few changes surreptitiously, like the one that closed off the backdoors into the Geofront's power generation system. That did not of course prevent her from giving Mitsubishi a failing grade on several counts with respect to their contract fulfillment. Sanctions had been deferred, after much pleading and lobbying from both the company and their puppets in the Japanese government, on the supposed premise of giving the company time to provide fixes.

Amanda had conceded on that, though not for the reasons that the bureaucrats and executives believed. They were too busy patting themselves on the back on how they had managed to make that crazed female foreigner see their reason and would likely squander the time Amanda had granted them in the belief that they could defer any repercussions indefinitely. Said foreigner was looking forward to the moment when Mitsubishi realized that the collective already had detailed plans to pull all of the equipment provided by the Japanese company and replace them with a thoroughly tested, hardened, and verified system that was even now running NERV-Berlin and to a lesser extent NERV-Hamburg.

But that was for the future and at present NERV had more pressing matters to deal with, including but not limited to the Angel that their currently online sensors had detected approaching Tokyo-3. And this time since it was NERV that detected it they were the ones that roused the UN forces to action.

"Understood," Kayabuki said before closing the channel and muttering under her breath. "Bloody lovely timing."

"Ma'am?"

Kayabuki and Kudo were both in the command vehicle as it headed towards the designated intercept point.

"NERV's apparently having issues with two of their pilots," the colonel said. "Presently they'll only be deploying a single EVA. If it's going to win, we're going to need to lend it a hand."

Kudo grimaced at that but nodded. "Just like with the Third Angel."

Technically the fourth Kayabuki thought but she kept that to herself, instead nodding in response. And if Matarael proved as much of a pushover as it was supposed to then only having a single EVA should not be much of a problem. But going into battle overconfident would only result in unnecessary casualties.

"Come into my lair said the spider to the fly," Kayabuki muttered to herself.

The new Angel indeed looked like a spider with its bent legs, even if it only had four of them. It also looked quite fragile, which really only served as proof of how stupid it was to rely on first impressions.

"Eyes sharp and ears open," Kayabuki said over the radio. "This Angel's moving slow but don't take any stupid risks. Fire from range and keep moving, we already know that sitting still is an invitation to get your ass blown off."

Acknowledgments filtered back and Kayabuki watched on the drone feed as her tanks and AFVs flowed through the countryside, running roughshod over neatly arranged fields and paddies of rice. It was somewhat funny, during the battle against Sachiel the JSSDF had only moved along the paved roads to reach their initial positions, never once going cross country. At the time Kayabuki had thought it was a matter of reducing wear and tear on their equipment combined with them having time to drive around like that. After being made colonel and being given access to the various contingency plans involving Tokyo-3, she came to the realization that the military made it a point to avoid driving through farms and private property to avoid complaints from farmers and other private citizens.

Seeing as humanity was fighting for its survival against eldritch abominations Kayabuki felt that cutting through that nonsense was perfectly justifiable and so redrew all of the mobilization routes to allow for the most rapid deployment of her forces. Of course she tried to use roads where appropriate, no reason to intentionally increase work for her maintenance techs, but if a farmer's perfectly organized rows of crops got trampled or crushed by several metric tons of steel Kayabuki was not about to lose any sleep. Besides, the farmer did not really have much right to complain seeing as what would happen if humanity failed. That and the Japanese government was obliged to pay for any such damage even if Kayabuki's unit was no longer JSSDF. In retrospect penny-pinching on the part of the bureaucrats might have been the real reason the JSSDF kept to the roads.

Today however the colonel did not need to deal with any such nonsense, especially seeing as most sane civilians were busy hightailing it out of the Angel's projected path. Tokyo-3 itself was already going into lockdown and high alert though this far from the city its defenses would be unable to lend much support.

"Where are our gunships?" Kayabuki queried.

"They're in the air and making their approach," Kudo replied. "ETA five minutes until they're overhead."

"Alright. First Company, parallel approach and target the Angel's left legs. Second Company, same against the right. Stagger your approaches, I don't want you shooting each other in a crossfire."

"Ma'am!"

"Bradleys, hang back until we get a reaction from the Angel but keep TOWs locked on."

"Yes ma'am."

"How long before artillery is ready?"

After persistent lobbying supported by not only Captain Katsuragi, Auditor Sommer, and even General Hiraga, Kayabuki had finally gotten a single battery of eight M109 self-propelled howitzers. They were surplus US hardware without the latest upgrades, but still formidable weapons. Of course what was formidable in human terms tended to be less than impressive when facing an Angel.

"The howitzers are settling in now," Kudo said.

"I want a zone and sweep once the Angel reaches sector 17, three salvos. Tank companies, execute attack after artillery strike. If the Angel does not pursue, artillery will retarget to the cliffs in sector 18, hold fire until all of our units are through. If it does pursue, armor is to lead it towards the EVA's deployment zone in sector 19. Bradleys will follow but hold TOWs until I give the order. Clear?"

"Clear!"

The various company commanders issued their own relevant orders to carry out Kayabuki's battle plan. In most respects it was a simple enough operation, try to lure the Angel towards the EVA so the giant robot could kill it. Of course past attempts to lead Angels tended not to work very well for those involved and more often than not the Angel refused to be baited. Then again the 597th had emerged intact and even victorious against previous Angels. Hopefully their luck would hold out.

"Artillery strike in T-minus ten, nine, eight…"

As Kudo began the countdown Kayabuki watched the feed intently. Her tanks were keeping a respectful distance from the Angel and thus far Matarael was ignoring all the scurrying little ants around it. Just how aware the Angels were was an open question for humanity, but a predator did not need to be cognizant of its killings to be dangerous.

"…three, two, one, mark!"

Some distance away the howitzers thundered. The X-shaped series of explosions around Matarael was not entirely on point, nor was the pattern recognizably X-shaped for that matter thanks to the AT-field, but they were close enough. Twenty seconds after the first roar another salvo bellowed forth. More explosions splattered around the Angel, flattening trees and charring the undergrowth. The land itself soon bore hideous scars but the Angel remained unfazed.

"I really should ask for one of those positron cannons," Kayabuki muttered.

Kudo looked a tad askance at his superior officer but wisely chose to avoid commenting.

With the bombardment concluded the tank companies rolled in, flanking the Angel at a staggered pace and opening fire on the legs. All of the shots were high explosive rounds, past analysis of Angel corpses having shown that at a basic level their bodies were not that robust. Sure with an AT-field few things could actually break through to inflict harm on the main bodies, but if the AT-field was bypassed with say an EVA the Angels were not that tough physically. In point of fact NERV's usage of armor piercing rounds in the EVA assault rifles had actually hurt their effectiveness. Even now production prioritization was being shifted to the HE rounds and that particular problem should be resolved in the near future. Assuming of course some massive armored Angel did not show up and exploit the new default rifle load out.

That said shooting while moving required as much sheer luck as skill even with all of the computerized aiming support in modern battle tanks. This time at least all of the shots were close enough that the Angel's AT-field activated to block them, though few would have actually hit even without that seemingly omnipresent defense.

"The Angel, is continuing on its course," Kudo reported.

"Not like we're doing anything worthwhile to it," Kayabuki said. "All companies, get through sector 18 immediately, we're only going to have one shot to piss this thing off."

"Roger!"

As suicidal as that sounded the 597th had been given orders to try to lure the Angel in towards a specific spot. And at least unlike the JSSDF orders, these ones were more realistic about what conventional weapons could achieve against an Angel. The regiment's fighting vehicles could actually outpace the Angel if they went all out, but the faster approach to getting out of the danger zone was simply scattering instead. By the time the Angel was in the target zone none of her tanks or AFVs were at risk of becoming collateral damage

The howitzers went into rapid fire, getting off a round every ten seconds. Kayabuki watched intently as they landed quite a distance away from the Angel. As already demonstrated even direct hits were basically useless but as the saying went there was more than one way to skin a cat. The detonations ripped through the cliff side and soon enough a torrent of boulders began sliding down towards the Angel. Its AT-field sprang up, stopping the rocks from actually crashing into the creature. Physics however could not simply be ignored, whatever appearances might be. The constant stream of rubble began building up around the Angel, the AT-field actually acting as a foundation for the growing pile even as more began accreting atop. This created perhaps the first inconvenience the Angel experienced yet and it was finally forced to react.

"What the-ma'am, the rocks are melting?" Kudo said.

"I see it," Kayabuki replied. "Bastard's spitting some kind of acid. Damn, it's still refusing to take the bait. Well, at least we got it to show off one of its tricks."

"Do you think it has more ma'am?"

Kayabuki snorted. "Since when have the Angels ever not had another surprise in store for us?"

That the captain conceded with a nod. Kayabuki watched for another few moments before switching channels on the radio. She still needed to call in her report, appearances needed to be maintained after all.

* * *

"Rei, you hear me?" Misato called.

"Yes."

"Okay. The Angel hasn't shown anything spectacular so far, it's basically been ignoring the UN regiment for the most part. The fanciest it's gotten is some kind of acid attack. It's not changing course however and to intercept it you're going to need to cross a dead zone in terms of power. Don't let it goad you when you're vulnerable like that, get to the next power relay as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

"Remember, Asuka and Shinji aren't here to provide support right now, so be careful."

"I understand," Rei repeated. "I will conclude this battle. Ikari-kun and Pilot Shikinami will not be forced to pilot while in their present condition."

It was there, the briefest hint of warmth mixed with a firm conviction. Misato smiled as she picked it out.

"Alright then. Preparations complete. EVA, launch!"

Rei felt only the slightest tremor as Unit 00 shot up towards the surface, the inertial dampeners absorbing most of the force. In some respects that little piece of technology was one of the true marvels created by NERV and the ability to basically negate g-forces was a massive advantage in quite a few applications, military and civilian. The secret behind it was eagerly sought by many parties but thus far NERV had managed to prevent any leaks. Then again seeing as the dampeners were actually a practical application of the AT-field, knowing the source was unlikely to help any of said third parties actually replicate it in other systems.

Unit 00 snapped to a halt and Rei quickly disengaged the locks. The massive mech broke into a run, its power cable ejecting just in time a few seconds later to avoid jerking the EVA back. Rei raced over rivers and hills and through forests and plans, leaving gigantic footprints in her wake. She soared across a ridge, dropping down a sheer cliff before resuming her stride without a moment of hesitation. Further and further she ran, cutting a line that slowly merged with the Angel's vector.

The distance closed until Rei could feel the Angel's AT-field. She reached out, seeking to nullify it even as that same distance began to lengthen. As if waiting for just that moment, artillery strikes landed atop the Angel. Some were once more brushed aside contemptuously by the Angel's AT-field. Others however made it through, slamming into the Angel's body before exploding. Fiery balls burned metal shards into the creature and it shrieked in pain. It vented both that and its fury by lobbing more globs of acid, these aimed at Unit 00. Rei dodged effortlessly, quickly moving out of range of both the AT-field and the acidic spit before finally reaching the next power conduit. She plugged herself in and waited for the Angel to resume its advance.

"We actually hurt the damn thing," Kayabuki said as she watched the Angel stagger along.

"If the EVA had stayed in position for a bit longer we could have landed another salvo," Kudo noted.

"Be thankful for what boons we are granted," Kayabuki said. "Besides, we'll have plenty of time to shell that damn thing once it..gets…closer…goddamn it is it stopping!?"

Kayabuki's observation was correct, the Angel had indeed stopped drawing closer to Unit 00 and instead was simply sitting there. This of course meant the EVA was unable to reach out and effectively erode the creature's AT-field, which effectively stalled efforts to kill the Angel with sheer firepower. The end result was a stalemate as the EVA was unable to advance against the Angel thanks to the limited range of its power cord.

"That sneaky bastard," Kayabuki said.

"What do we do now ma'am?" Kudo asked.

"We do nothing," the colonel replied, "unless whatever insane plan NERV cooks up to break this deadlock involves some effort on our part."

Back at NERV said insane plan was already in the works.

"We've got the prototype portable positron cannon, right?" Misato asked.

"Well, yes, but we've only test fired it once," Ritsuko pointed out.

"And it didn't blow up in our faces. That's good enough. Deploy it to Rei."

Ritsuko sighed but seeing as Ikari was not objection there was little point in her protesting further. Deep in the Geofront's labyrinth crews worked to load said cannon onto the rail network. From there it sped along until it reached the quadrant Rei was located in. There was a wait as the pilot moved to the weapons locker that would eventually house the weapon but soon enough Unit 00 was mounting a positively massive gun onto its shoulder. One that also had a power cord amusingly enough, though for a slightly different reason.

"The positron cannon only has enough juice for eight shots," Misato said. "We're moving additional power packs to your location now. And don't let the cable get sliced, it's providing the power for the cooling and if we lose it the cannon might explode if fired."

"Roger."

Rei adjusted the cannon, watching carefully as the targeting reticule zeroed in on the Angel. Matarael was still just sitting there, regenerating the damage inflicted upon it by the artillery shells. It would soon find that process a bit more complicated. The targeting system beeped.

"Fire!" Misato ordered.

A brilliant sphere of light erupted from the cannon and arced through the air. The distances were not that great and impact came mere seconds later. No one could actually look directly at the explosion and even the sensors on the drones and satellites were overwhelmed by the cascade of light and energy from the matter-antimatter annihilation reaction. Once telemetry was reestablished the barren wasteland that surrounded the Angel was on the same order as that of an N2 warhead. The crater that had been dug out was completely charred and even blackened with shards of obsidian from the superheated sand and dirt. That went on for about a kilometer out in radius before turning into merely burning landscape two kilometers out. It was not until one was over three kilometers out however that any tree remained even close to standing.

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," Kayabuki muttered.

Kudo felt himself in perfect accord with his commanding officer on that one. And he felt somewhat heartened at her lack of enthusiasm for such destruction.

The Angel itself had suffered heavily, several of its legs were burned completely away along with a portion of its body. A red pulsing core also lay exposed and once zoomed in visible cracks ran along it.

"Alright!" Misato cheered. "Okay Rei, prepare a second shot, we're going to nail this bastard!"

"Roger," Rei responded.

Unit 00 shifted the cannon ever so slightly, making the minute adjustment that its targeting system suggested as it compensated for the slight drifting of the previous shot. Then again seeing the damage already inflicted upon the Angel the correction was probably unnecessary.

"Cannon ready," Rei reported.

"Acknowledged-what the hell!?"

Rei's own eyes widened as the Angel's body began falling apart. Or rather, as the body split apart. Each cluster of flesh seemed to unfold as they hit the ground and actually began crawling away from the epicenter, crawling away very quickly at that.

"Oh shit!"

That thought ran through the heads of everyone watching the scene unfold even if only a few vocalized it. Even more importantly however they also reacted.

"Colonel," Misato called immediately. "Get your units forward to intercept those, things!"

"On our way," Kayabuki snapped back. "All companies assume defensive positions around the sector perimeter! We've got ten minutes to dig in!"

"That is not enough time ma'am," Kudo pointed out somewhat frantically.

"Since when have we ever had enough time?" Kayabuki said. "Command unit, move us to point seven-six."

"Ma'am!?"

"I've got a platoon riding herd on me and we don't have anyone else close enough to get there in time," Kayabuki said. "Do you really think I'm just going to sit back here and let my boys and girls take it in the neck by themselves?"

Kudo shook his head. "No ma'am."

"Then get this unit moving!"

"Aye ma'am!"

Back at NERV's command deck Misato was organizing her own response, or rather trying to prepare Rei to perform hers.

"We've got two assault rifles headed to you now," the captain said. "That, swarm seems to be headed your way, which is actually some good news for a change. They'll be in range of Tokyo-3's long range defenses within the next minute so we'll provide some covering fire to give you and the regiment more time to setup."

"What of the core?" Rei asked.

Misato glanced at the display. "It's, gone. One of its spawn might have picked it up and run. Ritsuko?"

"We're scanning," the doctor said. "There's a few faint impressions but we can't seem to localize."

"Do what you can," Misato said. "We can't kill this thing otherwise."

The weapons lockers popped open and Rei pulled out the two rifles even as she stowed the cannon. Against such small and potentially dispersed targets that weapon was not only massive overkill but a potential hazard to its operator and her allies who were even now getting into position.

Kayabuki's Battle Command Vehicle ground to a halt along with its four escorting Bradleys. Hatches popped and the four squadrons of her guard platoon spilled out, taking up firing positions along the ridge. The Bradleys themselves shifted a bit to ensure they had clear and mutually supporting fields of fire. The colonel herself barely paid the movement any mind beyond ordering her own Bradley also be positioned to be able to lend its firepower. She did not provide any opportunity for protests as she shifted her attention to the reports flooding back.

"Enemy engaged!" one of her junior officers shouted over the radio. "They're, we're tearing them apart but there's more headed our way."

"Lieutenant, designate targeting for a gunship run."

"Aye ma'am!"

"Captain Uzumi, commence attack run at your earliest convenience, keep those bastards off my boys and girls!"

"Acknowledged colonel, birds are coming in hot."

The air filed with the roar of the VTOLs as they descended at near terminal velocity. None spiraled out of control however, instead braking to a halt above the tree line. Guided by the designators the regiment were shining, the planes unleashed a torrent of missiles. Explosions ripped through the forest, felling trees and burning through the undergrowth. Amidst the carnage were the charred husks of the Angel spawn. More however quickly appeared to take their place.

"Incoming!" Kayabuki shouted over the radio.

Her troops instinctively took cover where they felt the need as the shrill of shells and missiles sounded around them. More blasts tore through the landscape as Tokyo-3's guns greeted the spawn, slaying yet more of them and granting another brief reprieve to the regiment.

"So far so good," Kayabuki muttered.

"Ma'am!"

The colonel bit back a curse at Kudo's frantic cry.

"What?"

"Drone's sighted a group of the spawn attempting to flank our position here!"

Tempting fate was sounding like a more and more stupid idea.

"Detach two squads from our position to intercept," Kayabuki ordered. "Split off one squad from platoons 2 and 4 from Second Company to shore up our position north of here, they'll act as an emergency reserve for us as well."

"Aye ma'am!"

Kayabuki watched as flashes of light burst all across the terrain, marking their units opening fire upon the advancing Angel spawn. Her own vehicle shuddered slightly as its main gun opened fire though with her headphones on the colonel was not subjected to its full roar.

"The EVA's joining the fight!"

Kayabuki straightened as she watched the massive mech advance towards the fighting, one assault rifle blazing away while another it had managed to somehow strap to its back using its power cord. That shortened its range a bit but considering how close the spawn were getting that was not really a problem anymore.

"Shit, they're breaking through!"

No, the real problem was just starting. Kayabuki watched with gritted teeth as one of her platoons suddenly saw a massive surge of spawn charge its position. Her troops gave everything they could, unleashing bullets, TOWs, cannonfire, and every other weapon at their disposal. She could even make out a few resorting to bayonets as the spawn came upon them, but it was all for naught. The creatures cut through the men and women, letting their screams echo over the radio before brutally silencing them. The Bradleys tried to charge through and bulldoze the creatures but they instead clambered atop, tearing off the guns before cutting in. Each vehicle seemed to shudder before a fiery blast left them twisted hulks.

"Fifth Platoon just bought it!" a voice said. "We've got a hole in the perimeter!"

"Second Company, split off two platoons to plug that hole," Kayabuki ordered.

"Aye ma'am-shit they're swarming the EVA!"

Kayabuki's eyes widened as she too saw it. The Angel spawn clambered up the EVA's leg, using anything and everything including each other to get higher. Unit 00 tried to shake them off, firing its gun at the ground and blowing away masses of them. More however filled those gaps and slowly but steadily they managed to get onto the EVA's back. That was when their true purpose was revealed.

"They're, they're going after the entry plug!" Kayabuki cried. "Captain Uzumi, get your birds over to Unit 00 now! Get those things off of it!"

"We can't get a clear shot!" Uzumi cried back.

"Doesn't matter! The EVA'll survive a few hits from your guns, but if those things pry open the entry plug they're going to butcher the pilot! Open fire! Now!"

To Uzumi's credit there was no hesitation between Kayabuki's desperate order and his obeyance. Orange darts spewed from his squadron, blowing off the spawn even as they knocked the EVA about. Rei however seemed to understand what they were doing and did her best to present her back to them even as she tried to keep more spawn from climbing atop her unit. Those further down however had not been idle as suddenly a gush of blood erupted from one of the legs. Unit 00 faltered and came crashing down.

Back at base Misato had arrived at the same conclusion and was busy organizing her own response.

"HE shells," she ordered. "Target is Unit 00, space the shots out to avoid them detonating too closely to one another."

"Aye ma'am," Makato said.

"Misato!" Ritsuko protested.

"The EVA'll survive a few hits from our own guns," the captain snapped. "Rei will not if they manage to pry open her entry plug!"

Ritsuko glanced up at the command dais but Ikari remained motionless. If anything he seemed extremely focused on the display of Rei fighting to throw off the spawn. The doctor grimaced but held her tongue.

"Ma'am, we just lost the link to Colonel Kayabuki!" Makoto shouted.

"What!?"

Kayabuki's vision was hazy if not outright completely blurred. Her ears were ringing and her body felt limp. Nevertheless she managed to lift her head a bit. Slowly her sight cleared and she found herself looking at a frantically shouting Kudo.

"Captain?" she whispered.

The man's mouth moved but Kayabuki could not make anything out. What she did know however was that her aide's face was covered in blood. He however still seemed to be on his feet.

"Kudo," Kayabuki managed to get out though her own voice sounded husky to herself. "Keep the regiment together. Complete the mission."

And then darkness took her.

* * *

Deep within the Geofront two sets of blue eyes gazed in the same direction. The adults watching over them looked on worriedly.

"Shinji-kun?"

"Asuka?"

As if being so called was the prompt they were waiting for, the two suddenly leapt out of their respective beds. The two adults were not slow in responding but the result of their attempts to block the children was finding themselves flat on the floor. Kaji did not even know how he had gotten there while Hayashima was simply stunned at how gently Shinji had managed to knock her down. Their surprise lasted for mere seconds as they hurried to chase after the kids and report their escape.

* * *

"What the hell do you two mean they got out," Amanda hissed.

"Exactly what I said," Kaji said over the radio. "Asuka somehow knocked me flat on my ass and then charged out of the room."

"And Shinji?" Amanda demanded.

"He, lifted me before gently setting me down," Hayashima said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Amanda demanded, still trying to keep relatively quiet.

"Look, what's important is that they're on the loose," Kaji said. "Now seeing as we're still on alert I can only assume the battle's not going well. So, where do YOU think they're headed?"

Amanda grimaced. "Only question is if they bother changing into their plugsuits or-nevermind, they're at the cages already."

"What the hell are they doing!" Misato screamed as she watched the feed.

In point of fact the two had not bothered changing and were even now getting into their respective entry plugs. The sequence for loading was almost completely automated and the technicians standing about simply watched helplessly as the two plugs were socketed in. With a spin they sank into the EVAs and the cover closed.

"Shinji! Asuka! Get out of there now!" Misato demanded over the radio.

"Deploy a glaive to sector 19," Asuka began.

"And prepare to eject Ayanami once we reach the battle," Shinji concluded.

"What? What do you mean eject her!?"

Neither pilot responded, instead somehow activating the lifts to maneuver their EVAs to the launch rails.

"Override them!" Misato shouted.

"Belay that," Ikari interrupted.

Misato spun around. "But sir!"

"Unit 00 has been incapacitated," Gendo stated. "We need the other two EVAs to defeat this Angel. Deploy them, captain."

Misato grit her teeth but deep down she knew the bastard did have a point. Asuka and Shinji had also gotten into their EVAs of their own volition and seemed to still be able to synchronize. Despite her own feelings she simply could not justify holding them back, especially with Rei in danger. With Shinji's sister in danger. The boy would never forgive her if she did.

"How long will it take to get the EVAs over there by rail?" she asked her subordinate.

"At least ten minutes," Makoto said. "The regiment's somehow holding the line but they're being pushed back. The VTOLs are almost out of ammo too, they won't be able to keep the spawn off Unit 00 for much longer."

Misato chewed her nails as she contemplated the unpleasant reality before them. She could order the regiment back to a final defensive line around Unit 00, but its units were spread all about engaging the spawn. Worse, Kayabuki was down and even if her aide was holding things together his own position was being besieged so he was not exactly in a position to carry out a coordinated withdrawal. Then there was the risk that pulling back would allow the spawn to advance on Tokyo-3. NERV simply did not have the assets to engage such small opponents. In fact one of the unspoken missions of the regiment was to fill that particular hole.

"Ma'am, I have a Captain Kudo on the radio," Aoba said. "He's managed to beat off a wave of Angel spawn and has forwarded a list of targets for our fixed defenses."

"Put them up on the main display."

The coordinates popped up on the main projection, each marked by an auto generated tag, and Misato noted their respective positions.

"Granted. Batteries 4 and 5 on target alpha, 10 through 12 on beta-"

Misato rattled off the weapons allocation and once more Tokyo-3's guns sounded. Angel spawn died in droves as shells and rockets exploded in their midst. At the same time other clusters of the spawn found themselves cut off or significantly reduced in number. The mechanized platoons of the 579th cut through, guns blazing and with blood in their eyes. Even as they reestablished the defensive line units moved from place to place, unloading and loading squads with frightening speed to remain mobile and project as much firepower as possible. Finally the command unit itself managed to maneuver close to Unit 00, blowing off more of the spawn trying to swarm the entry plug. The pressure was still tight but they were regaining ground with the thinnest of margins.

"Ma'am, the pilots just diverted their trains to a launch point!" Makoto said suddenly, interrupting Misato's focus on the battle.

"What!? Why would they do that!?"

"It seems they have a plan," Amanda said.

"But, are they seriously expecting to outpace the rail network?"

"Think about it," Amanda said. "Shinji might still be an amateur in some respects but Asuka's trained much of her life for this. If those two are still synchronized, do you think she'd let him make that dumb a decision? And besides. Look at their sync rates."

The captain's eyes snapped over to that particular display before widening.

"That's impossible."

"110%," Amanda said. "Anything else you'd care to wager is impossible?"

Misato closed her mouth and regarded her friend for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright, we'll try it their way. Ibuki, is the glaive ready?"

"Almost ma'am!"

"Hyuga, pass the word onto the regiment, tell them Units 01 and 02 are on the way."

"Aye ma'am!"

"EVAs at launch platforms!" Aoba said. "Awaiting final confirmation!"

Misato grit her teeth but nodded. "Launch!"

The EVAs shot upward from their platforms, rising through the Geofront until snapping to a halt on the surface. They remained still for only as long as it took the locks to disengage, dashing off and ejecting their power cords in the process.

"Misato!" two voices cried out together.

The captain immediately understood what they sought and leaned over Hyuga's chair.

"Raise armor blocks 1075 to 1078, stepwise heights!"

"Aye!"

Out in the city the massive blocks of armor intended to provide cover for the EVAs shot up, the first only going up a quarter of its full extension. The next three added on another quarter over the previous one until the set of four created a series of steps. Units 01 and 02 pushed off from each one in perfect synchronicity before launching themselves off the final block, soaring through the air and completely clearing the distance to outside the city limits.

"How is that even possible!?" Hyuga muttered.

The EVAs landed hard but immediately broke out into a sprint once more, not even fazed by the craters their impacts had formed.

"They're not going to make it," Aoba stated tightly.

Misato kept her eyes glued to the main feed and the counter ticking down on it. The batteries installed on an EVA provided a maximum of five minutes of power when under minimal load. When the EVA was running flat out, that time decreased to only sixty-two seconds. They had already burned twenty reaching just this point. And then Misato's jaw dropped. The captain was not alone in having that response.

Both EVAs were almost flying across the ground, the shockwave of their sonic boom flattening the landscape as they went. And then they slowed to merely subsonic speeds, Asuka basically tearing the glaive from the weapons deployment building while Shinji split and headed towards the kneeing Unit 00.

"Ayanami/Rei!" came the cry. "Eject!"

The cover over Unit 00's entry plug blew off and the plug itself shot out. With a cry that came from both himself and Asuka, Shinji leapt and caught the plug, slamming into the ground cradling it. At the same time Asuka leapt through the air, over the now silent Unit 00, over the frantically fighting UN soldiers, and over the swarm of Angel spawn that was rushing forth to slaughter those same men and women. She slammed down with the glaive first and the cry of the two pilots was immediately eclipsed by a shrill shriek. The spawn crumbled one by one, dotting the landscape and more than a few soldiers and vehicles with red splotches. Silence fell as the last of their batteries were drained. And then the cries and cheers of triumph rang out across the battlefield and the radio as the men and women of both the regiment and NERV realized that once more victory was theirs. Theirs, and the children's.

End of Chapter 15

I greet you after my little trip to Japan. Yes, that was why I was out of the country the past couple of days. Had great food, bought a bunch of manga and some light novels, and enjoyed the very good service on JAL flights. Oh and Toyoko-Inn is a pretty good series of hotels. This would be the second time I've stayed with them. Not only do they have irons available for borrowing, they're also willing to loan out umbrellas to customers.

But anyway, I'm sure you're all more interested in my notes about this chapter than my trip to Japan. I don't think I've ever dedicated the entirety of a single chapter to a single battle. I did so because I wanted to get across a few points, including the fact that the UN regiment is starting to identify more and more with NERV and especially the pilots. Since, you know, the pilots are the ones actively fighting alongside them. I also wanted to inject some more world building, setting the foundations for a few other things in future chapters, and so on. And also rant about the idiotic state of industrial systems these days. The complete blindness when it comes to security is going to bite the world as a whole hard, I'm pretty sure. Assuming one doesn't already count the massive northeastern blackout that happened over a decade ago. Or the southwest blackout a little under four years ago. Yeah. The engineer in me is ranting about the rather stupid state of affairs.

Oh, right, the characters. You'll all find out what's happened to them next chapter. Ahem. Anyway.

Hmm, a thought occurred to me recently, but I presume tvtrope entries are editable right? Cause the entry for my story is likely going to need some significant, changes, once I finish enough of it to reveal what is happening. Oh and if someone could please fix that spelling error, I'd be most appreciative.

Z98


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Ossia

The table beside Kayabuki's hospital bed was overflowing with paper cranes now, the first batch from the checkup logs on the board clipped to said bed. The source for the second batch was provided by Kudo in the form of the extra copies of paperwork that the colonel was in theory supposed to have time for now that she was bedridden. Out of that paperwork Kayabuki had only done a select, specific handful. The rest contributed to the growing pile of cranes. The third batch, the one that Kayabuki was working on now, actually came from proper origami paper. No one in the regiment quite knew how one Amanda Sommer had discovered their commanding officer's quirk but one day an entire box of said paper had shown up at the regimental headquarters with a card from the auditor wishing Kayabuki a quick recovery, and a request that she start filing her paperwork on time. All involved had a good laugh, including the colonel. The paperwork she was supposed to do was now sitting in the recycling bin.

The hospital in question was actually the one sited inside the UN base next to the city. Civilians could also use it but its primary purpose was to provide for the men and women of the 579th UN Regiment. Its services were in very high demand after the battle against Matarel and all too many soldiers either never made it there to receive help or breathed their last in these halls. Still, relative to the casualties suffered by the JSSDF during the engagement against Sachiel the 597th had gotten off very lightly. Reinforcements were already on the way from the JSSDF's Third Division, the unit that most of the current soldiers were originally from. At this rate the already understrength Third might well be completely converted into the 597th. That was less than pleasing to certain parties but perfectly fine with quite a few others. One such third party was now entering the hospital to visit another such fellow. By the end of the day, the woman accompanying her might well become a third such adherent.

The nurse working at the desk stood and saluted.

"Captain Sommer. Captain Katsuragi."

The two women returned it. Nurses were after all officers and returning the salute from a subordinate was not only courteous, they were deserving of the same respect they conferred upon others.

"Sergeant, Aki. We are here to see Colonel Kayabuki."

"The colonel is in room 112," the nurse said as she adjusted her glasses, "keep going to your left down the hallway. It's the third room on your right."

Amanda nodded. "Thank you. Well, shall we?"

Misato nodded as well and walked alongside her friend as they followed the sergeant's directions. Kayabuki's room was easy to find however, not least because of the two very large and burry men standing watch outside. They came to attention and saluted, which the two women also returned. One then opened the door, bowing slightly as he held it open for them. Amanda graced him a smile and entered with Misato right behind.

The colonel herself was wide awake, reading what looked to be a manga. Apparently she was intent on taking her convalescence as leisurely as possible.

"Colonel," Amanda greeted.

"Captains," Kayabuki nodded back. "Welcome to my little hidey-hole."

Misato could not help but smile at the woman's complete irreverence. She had liked that about Kayabuki when they first met and still found it made the colonel more likeable. Her smile disappeared however as Amanda set down her suitcase and unlocked it. A few more presses of keys and the room was awash with a subtle static.

"The hospital was not on the schedule for being bugged by either the UN or NERV," Amanda said, "but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

"Ah," Kayabuki said. "I take it it's time to invite the good captain into our little conspiracy?"

Amanda nodded and the colonel sighed, her own cheer disappearing and replaced with a steady and seemingly serious demeanor.

"Well, as good a time as any with Commander Jerk-ass away from Tokyo-3."

The departure of the elder Ikari and Fuyutsuki had been something of a surprise for their subordinates seeing as NERV was still dealing with the aftermath of Matarael's attack, never mind the recovery of the pilots. To some however it was simply further confirmation that the commander did not care about the pilots and his blatant callousness was causing considerably more tension than Ikari probably would have originally predicted. That he still believed himself in control of NERV was a source of immense amusement for Amanda, not least because of what would happen today.

"How many people are in on this?" Misato asked.

"Well let's see, there's the mastermind behind all of this Major-General Klinge," Kayabuki began, "and of course her cronies in both the UN and NERV-OW!"

"Turn off that motor mouth of yours for a sec," Amanda said as she retracted her fist.

Kayabuki rubbed her head and gave the other woman a mischievous smile, but she at least kept her mouth shut, for now.

"Anyway, there are quite a few of us involved in this little conspiracy," Amanda said to her friend. "The important part is not who is in on it, but why we are doing this."

"And this all has something to do with NERV's true purpose?"

Amanda nodded. "Officially NERV's stated mission is to defeat the Angels to prevent them from initiating a Third Impact. In reality, the goal of NERV's sponsors is to initiate a controlled Third Impact."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "Controlled in what way?"

"Controlled in such a way as to achieve apotheosis," the German woman stated.

Misato spent a very long minute simply staring at Amanda. She then shifted her gaze to Kayabuki.

"It's as insane as it sounds," the colonel said, "but it's true."

"How can you be so certain?" Misato asked.

"Because my grandfather is the architect for it," Amanda said, "and in carrying out his vision he already has the blood of three billion people on his hands."

Misato's eyes widened. "Second Impact."

Amanda nodded. "The contact experiment that your father carried out in Antarctica was engineered by my grandfather and the rest of the SEELE council. The council knew what the consequences would have been, but they needed to neutralize the Adams found in Antarctica and obtain the samples necessary for the Human Instrumentality Project, so they went ahead with it anyway."

Misato's fist tightened but there was a visible tremor. "Did my father know?"

"About what would happen? No. SEELE withheld a great deal of information from Dr. Katsuragi and falsified others. He thought that the contact experiment would simply allow for the confirmation of his Super Solenoid theory."

"But it was still his experiment that caused Second Impact, not the Angels," Misato said.

"Yes, and no."

Misato glared at her friend. "What the hell does that mean!? Wasn't it his experiment that awakened the Adams in Antarctica!? Or are you trying to suggest because of his ignorance he's innocent of his part in Second Impact!?"

"Who said anything about innocence?" Amanda said, eyebrow raised. "Your father was certainly responsible for awakening the Adams, he did design and oversee the experiment after all, even if he did so based on a false premise. Isn't that the other reason why you joined Gehirn? To assuage your own sense of guilt?"

The other woman's frankness blunted some of the anger and confusion boiling over in Misato. She looked away, not sure what if anything she could say.

"We're at war, Misato, make no mistake of it, against both the Angels and SEELE. Third Impact, regardless of who initiates it, will result in humanity's extinction."

"You said that, SEELE, wants to initiate a controlled Third Impact," Misato said. "What exactly does that mean?"

"At a basic level, SEELE is attempting to carry out a massive metaphysical transformation of the entire human race," Amanda said, leaning against Kayabuki's bed. "Do you know the theory behind AT-fields?"

"The defense that the Angels possess," Misato said.

"Well, yes, but there's a more fundamental theory as well, in that all life possesses an AT-field. It is basically the boundary that separates our souls from the souls of others. The Human Instrumentality Project seeks to break down that barrier, to basically unit all humanity into a single being, a being that would possess the power of a god."

Misato's mouth was hanging open. "What in blazes for!?"

"Much of human suffering is from the fact that we cannot truly understand each other," Amanda said. "We hurt each other because we fail to emphasize, push others away, any number of actions that derive from the simple fact that each of us are ultimately alone from everyone else. If however all of humanity was united as a singular entity with no barriers between our souls, we would achieve perfect understanding of each other. There would be no more pain and suffering, no more misunderstandings or loneliness. Or so the theory goes."

Misato's mind raced as she considered Amanda's words. In some ways Instrumentality sounded like utopia, an existence in which humans would not hurt each other. No one would be alone, no one would be selfish, and all the pain and suffering that derived from man's inhumanity to man would be wiped away. But here Amanda was, inviting Misato into a conspiracy to try and derail all of it.

"You said in theory," Misato said. "So, what's the catch?"

Kayabuki snorted, drawing the captain's attention. "Think about it. What does it mean if the boundaries of our individual souls are gone? Would we still be ourselves?"

"We would lose our individuality," Misato said slowly.

"Exactly," Amanda said softly.

"And yet," Misato said, "is what we receive in return worth such a price?"

To Misato's surprise Amanda actually smiled. One would have thought that such uncertainty would have been more worrying for members of a conspiracy.

"What is the worth of free will?" Amanda asked.

"What?"

"That's the real question you're asking," Amanda said. "What is the worth of each individual's right to self-determination? Is there any situation where that right should be taken away? And is this one such situation?"

That indeed was the question, Misato realized. What was more, she could even see the logical extension of that point. Approximately three billion people had already died for Instrumentality. How many of them would have chosen to make that kind of sacrifice? How many more people would accept losing their individuality for the supposed peace? Especially when Misato herself was uncertain about that exchange herself. But there was a counterpoint as well.

"This isn't the kind of decision that humanity could ever make," Misato said. "There will always be dissent over it, and it's a decision that can only be executed if all of humanity agrees to it."

"That is very true," Amanda admitted openly. "And yet, unless humanity as a whole agrees to it, can we really be said to be ready for such a step? Or are you saying you entrust when the species should take such a step to a bunch of nihilistic old men who have lost all hope in mankind?"

Now that was a very good point and one Misato found she could not find a counter that she herself would buy.

"So, is that why you all are doing this?" Misato asked.

"At an abstract level? Yes."

"And on a concrete level?"

Amanda and Kayabuki exchanged looks. The colonel shrugged and gestured for Amanda to field that one.

"We each have our own personal reasons for wanting to stop Instrumentality in addition to not believing in forcing the will of the few upon all of humanity." Amanda smiled wirily. "I'll give you some time to think about what mine might be before I tell you."

Misato regarded her friend thoughtfully before turning to look at the colonel.

"And yourself?"

"Me? I'm in on it because I like who I am. And because I basically watched the world end when I was still a teenager. You think I'm going to just sit around and let those bastards pull the same stunt a second time?"

Blunt and to the point as always. Misato found herself chuckling at the colonel's straightforwardness. And then a thought occurred to her.

"What about Kaji?"

"What about him?" Amanda responded.

"Is he in on your little conspiracy?"

"Of course not."

Misato frowned in confusion. "Of course not? Why not?"

"What would bringing Ryoji into this gain us?"

The captain opened her mouth but closed it without saying a word as she thought over the question. Her friend did have a point, being a UN auditor meant that Amanda already could tap into whatever UN resources she might need and having the head of the BND lead their little group meant they could even call upon German assets. And with Kayabuki in command of the regiment stationed around Tokyo-3, that meant the conspiracy basically had around a thousand soldiers immediately available.

"I suppose I just thought that he was someone that could be trusted," Misato finally said.

"And he can be," Amanda said, surprising her friend. "As we get closer to our endgame we'll almost certainly bring him in, but at this point he helps us more by staying out of the loop and acting as a distraction for SEELE and NERV."

"I see," said Misato. "It would seem that you people have given a lot of thought to all this."

"Part of the job," Amanda said with a smile. "If we want to pull this off without getting murdered in our sleep, we need to be careful about who we bring in and how much we trust them with."

"Does that mean there are things you won't be telling me? And things that not even you know?"

"Of course," Amanda said, only half lying with a completely straight face. As one of the senior elements of the collective there was very little that she did not know, period. "Compartmentalization is the first rule of trying to run a black op."

"True enough," Misato said, "but in that case why tell me about General Klinge? Shouldn't that be need to know?"

"Funny you should mention that," Amanda said with a smile. "Do you know who the general's nominal bosses are?"

"The German government," Misato said.

The smile grew wider. So did Misato's eyes.

"You're joking."

"How else do you think the general was able to build up her network?" Amanda said. "After all, what better way to take down SEELE than to use their own resources?"

Misato looked at her friend. She then returned the smile.

"I think I'm starting to like this general. She's sneaky as all hell."

"You have no idea," Amanda said dryly.

The captain chuckled. "And I guess we get to find out just how sneaky I am as well. Count me in."

Amanda extended a hand and Misato took it. "Welcome aboard, Misato, to forging a new dawn for mankind."

* * *

"Ow ow ow ow ow," Asuka said as she clutched her head. "OW! Aspirin! Someone! Please!"

"Asuka, please stop shouting," Shinji pled from his own bed. "My head is hurting enough as it is."

"Your head!?" the redhead snapped. "How do you think I feel!?"

Shinji simply groaned, unable to muster the energy to respond and also deciding that further provoking the girl was not conducive to getting his head to stop pounding. Then again Asuka's whimpering was its own form of torment. After everything that they had gone through, he really disliked the notion of the girl being in pain. Fortunately salvation appeared so thereafter as the door opened to review Kaji and Hayashima.

"Hey kids," Kaji greeted. "Feeling better?"

"Kaji!" Asuka cried. "Aspirin!"

"Sorry," the older man said. "You can't keep taking painkillers like that or else you might end up with a dependency. Doctor's orders."

"Which doctor!?" Asuka demanded.

"Mine," Hayashima said. "Apologies, Asuka-san, but you'll just have to bear with it."

The redhead groaned and slumped back down on the bed. Kaji walked over to the room's fresher and proceeded to soak two towels in cold water. He handed one to Hayashima and brought the other over to Asuka and placed it over the girl's forehead.

"There, that help a bit?"

"Hmm," Asuka said, enjoying the slight numbing of her head.

"Thank you doctor," Shinji said as Hayashima did the same for him.

"You are welcome, Shinji-kun," Hayashima said with a comforting smile.

Perhaps it was due to his own fatigue or the throbbing pain, but Shinji felt a nagging sense of déjà vu as he looked at the doctor. There was something familiar about that smile, it reminded him of another's gentle and caring nature, that he could not quite place. And then the impression faded as the doctor stepped away from the bed.

"The two of you will be discharged shortly," Hayashima said. "As far as we can tell there are no lingering side effects of your time being synchronized to each other. Not that we have any idea how it happened in the first place, to be honest."

"That is not reassuring," Asuka said.

"I don't really remember much from it," Shinji said, "just some sensations and emotions. Blurred images, really."

"You two did us proud regardless," Kaji said, "killed the latest Angel and saved Rei and the regiment."

"It's our job," Asuka said, a mixture of pride and conviction.

"Well next time try to do your job in a way that doesn't see me get knocked on my ass," Kaji said with a chuckle.

Asuka's head rose slightly to let her gaze at the man. "What?"

"You don't remember? When I tried to stop you from leaving the hospital room you knocked me flat."

Asuka cocked her head to the side questioningly, seemingly not believing the man. Kaji however simply chuckled.

"Well, don't worry about it, not like that's the first time a girl's swept me off my feet."

That elicited a wide smile from Asuka, who promptly slumped back down as the cooling effects of the towel began to recede and the migraine returned once more. Kaji quickly took the towel to rinse it again.

"Umm, Hayashima-sensei, did I do anything like that to you?" Shinji asked as the doctor did likewise.

"No need to worry Shinji-kun," Hayashima said with a reassuring smile. "You were much more, indirect, in circumventing me."

"Oh, okay," Shinji said. "That's good. I think."

"So the two of you do not remember much of anything from the battle?" Kaji asked as he returned.

"No," Asuka said. "I remember feeling rushed, a really urgent need to get out there. I think I remember asking for a weapon, but the first thing I remember concretely is waking up in my EVA with what I assume was an Angel core skewered by the glaive."

"And you, Shinji-kun?" Hayashima asked.

"Umm, about the same," Shinji said, "though I had Ayanami's entry plug in my, my EVA's hands."

The two adults nodded. That the pilots really did not remember much was already suspected based off of the comments and questions the two asked during the past few days. Asuka was slightly more coherent than Shinji initially, the boy still suffering from the aftereffects of his resurfaced memory. He was dealing with it remarkably well however, responding to prompts from other people even though he remained moody otherwise. There were a few people that he actively reached out to though, and Asuka was one of them. Using that as a justification, Hayashima had recommended the two room together while in the medical wing. No one overruled her and so the two had spent the past few days with each other.

That time together seemed to do both of them some good, if the surveillance footage was anything to go by. On the first day Shinji had demonstrated enough awareness to show concern for Asuka, asking the girl if she was hurt. Asuka had been a tad irritable but the two quickly settled into a mostly amiable rapport once more. To the surprise of several adults, Shinji had promptly revealed to Asuka what he remembered.

"I remembered what happened to my mother," he had said, "and I kinda lost it because of that. But, I just wanted to make sure you knew, my collapsing wasn't your fault or anything. I mean, I was thinking about what happened to your mother when it happened, but me falling apart like that wasn't because of what you told me, I mean…"

Asuka, predictably, had exploded. "Of course it's not my fault! I know that! What happened to you happened to you, what happened to me happened to me, don't ever forget that! And what happens from now on is up to you and you alone!"

The boy had taken Asuka's tongue lashing surprisingly well. At the very least he had not relapsed, which was a real concern amongst those that looked out for him. It probably helped that after she calmed down, and when her migraine did not render her effectively invalid, Asuka had lent Shinji her ear and even reciprocated a bit as he talked more about himself.

"So, you have a masters in mathematics?" Shinji said in wonder. "But, how did you get it so quickly?"

"Back before Second Impact it normally took four years or so to finish an undergraduate degree and two more for a masters," Asuka said. "After Second Impact there was a high demand to find qualified engineers and technicians, so a lot of universities ended up dropping the humanity requirements from their engineering, sciences, and mathematics degrees. That made it possible to finish a bachelor degree within two years instead, so that's what I did. And after that, well, I got bored so I kept taking graduate level courses. After two years, I ended up with enough credits to receive my masters."

"But that would mean, you were nine when you started?" Shinji said in wonder.

Asuka shrugged as much as her posture allowed her. "Eight actually. But Misato's still making me go to middle school. It's so stupid."

"Well I suppose the school really can't teach you much," Shinji conceded, "but it is a place to make friends and get to know people. I mean, you met Hikari-san there, right?"

"I guess," Asuka allowed.

All of this was reassuring in the extreme for the adults of NERV, not just because these two were pilots that defended humanity against the Angels but because there was a genuine fondness that was developing amongst the staff for all of the Children. Besides, it was fun to gossip about what everyone knew was a budding relationship, or even possibly relationships. There was the First Child to consider after all.

A knock on the door sounded before it slid open to reveal Amanda and Misato and the two adults already present no longer had any time to muse about the recent developments.

"Yo Katsuragi," Kaji greeted.

Misato did not even grimace at the man's presence, a considerable improvement compared to when they first reunited on _Over the Rainbow_. Kaji would of course have preferred a kiss or a hug, but he supposed he still needed to work his way back up to that. That was fine with him, the woman before him was worth it after all.

"Shinji-kun, Asuka, you two ready to go home?" Misato asked.

"Yes," Asuka said emphatically. "Please. I'm really getting sick of this ceiling."

Amanda chuckled. "You can't be getting any sicker of this place than Shinji, seeing how often he's been in here."

Shinji blushed slightly. "I don't really try to end up in here."

"We know," Amanda assured him. "Alright, you two get changed and we'll get you home. I hear that there's quite the feast waiting there."

"Oooh, did the maestro put together something?" Asuka asked, perking up.

"You'll see," Amanda said coyly as she began shooing Kaji out. "We'll be waiting outside."

Misato handed both a change of clothes before following Hayashima out. Before closing the door she winked at the two. Asuka glanced down at the clothes and then at the boy with a scowl.

"Don't you dare peek."

The curtain came between them in a flash.

"Of course Asuka," Shinji said with a slight smile.

* * *

It was a tight squeeze with all five of them but Amanda's car was fortunately up to the task. Shinji was also devoutly grateful that it was the auditor driving them back, he was not entirely sure his body could have withstood Misato's driving right now. Or Kaji's, if what Asuka claimed was true. Nevertheless they were back at the apartment in short order and Shinji felt a palatable relief at being home. It was strange, but he really did think of this as his home now, the one place in the world that he knew he could come back to. As the door opened he was reminded of that even more forcefully.

"Welcome back!" Hikari called out happily.

"Yo, prof!" Toji said, pulling the boy into a headlock. "Ya had us worried there! What's this I hear about you ending up in the hospital again?"

Shinji chuckled and extricated himself without much difficulty. And then he caught sight of Rei. A slightly smiling Rei. Shinji felt a heavy thud in his heart at the sight, not just because of the look of genuine happiness on the girl's face. Where in the past he simply felt a tingle of nostalgia whenever he saw her, now he was fully cognizant of the source of that feeling. There was no doubt about it, there existed some kind of relation between his mother and Yui. Shinji walked over to the girl and smiled in return.

"I'm back Ayanami."

"Welcome back, Ikari-kun."

"Wow, what a spread!" Asuka cheered as the gathered took their seats around the table. "Wait, that's a Japanese dish. Hikari, did you make that?"

"Ayanami-san helped as well," Hikari said, "and Reimer-san was a big help."

The German man cracked a slight smile. "Frauleins Ayanami and Horaki did most of the work. I had but to oversee."

"Really?" the redhead said before glancing over at her roommate. "Huh, so you're taking lessons from the Maestro as well?"

"Sommer-san has been the one instructing me," Rei corrected.

Asuka looked at her mentor in surprise and the brunette shrugged. "Well with both you and Shinji in the hospital, I couldn't exactly leave Rei at the mercy of Misato's cuisine."

A stifled giggle escaped Asuka while Shinji grinned in agreement. Misato sniffed but did not respond verbally. The attention drawn to her however caused Kensuke to notice something and he stiffened before shooting straight up.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Major Katsuragi!"

The abruptness of his declaration caught everyone off guard before the children all gazed at Misato. The woman seemed taken aback at the attention before smiling wirily.

"Thank you, Aida-san."

"You got promoted?" Asuka said in surprise.

Misato nodded. "Paperwork went through today. It was what we were dealing with before we came to pick you up. And I wasn't the only one. You're looking at Major Amanda Sommer over there as well."

This time all eyes fell on Amanda, who again shrugged.

"The UN decided that it did not make much sense to have NERV's operations chief that many grades below the UN regimental commander, so they bumped her up to major. At the same time they wanted me to have sufficient authority that I can pull rank, so I got bumped as well. Though actually it's not Major Katsuragi, it's Colonel Katsuragi."

"Ah," Asuka said in understanding. "A brevet promotion on top of a promotion in grade."

Shinji looked at the girl in confusion. "What?"

"Misato was a captain before," the girl began, "and the rank of colonel is three grades above her old rank. You can't just bump someone three grades like that without some really extraordinary circumstances and even with what NERV is facing I doubt she would qualify. She's not the one risking her neck out there in the EVAs after all."

"Gee, thanks Asuka," Misato said with a stuck out tongue.

Asuka responded in kind before continuing. "Anyway, the UN apparently still wants her to at least have equal authority with the 597th's regimental colonel, that Kayabuki woman, and so they've granted her a formal promotion to major but also given her a brevet promotion to colonel. That brevet promotion means she gets all the authority of a colonel and can be addressed as one, but she doesn't draw the pay or benefits of a colonel and also doesn't accrue seniority as one either. Make sense?"

"I guess," Shinji said. "You seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff, Asuka."

"Well I am a second lieutenant," the girl said proudly, before glancing at Amanda. "By the way, any chance I-"

"No," came the immediate response from Amanda, Kaji, and Misato.

The girl hmphed while her friends laughed at the exchange. Kensuke however was regarding the girl with a tad more respect, realizing that Asuka was much more involved in the very military matters that he himself had an interest in. Who knew, if he played his cards right he might be able to get her to divulge some more interesting tidbits.

"Does that mean you also got a, brevet, promotion, Amanda-san?" Shinji asked.

"That's right. Though it'll probably be a few years before I make full-bird colonel."

"Full bird?" Shinji said.

"Ah, an Americanism," Amanda explained. "The US insignia for a colonel is an eagle and an informal nickname for the rank is full-bird colonel to distinguish it from a lieutenant-colonel."

"It also means a few other things," Asuka said with a snicker.

While that drew confused looks from the others her age the adults present shot Asuka disproving looks and the girl refrained from elaborating.

"So are you two coming back to class tomorrow?" Hikari asked.

"Probably," Asuka said with a sigh. "How many tests did we miss?"

"Umm, none, except that, well, exams are kind of next week so," Hikari informed them.

Shinji banged his head against the table while Asuka growled in exasperation.

"Remind me again why going to school is worth it, Baka Shinji?"

"I'm starting to wonder the same myself," Shinji said.

Kensuke patted his friend in sympathy while Hikari did the same for Asuka.

"Well you two do have the weekend to study," Misato pointed out. "I'm sure that'll be more than enough time."

Asuka glared at her guardian. "What sort of deranged fantasy world do you live in, Misato?"

"Why Asuka, are you still having trouble with kanji?" Misato said with a smirk.

The glare intensified.

"I would be willing to assist in any studying you two will engage in this weekend," Rei suddenly offered.

All attending looked at the girl in surprise though Shinji recovered very quickly.

"I'd appreciate the help a lot Ayanami," he said warmly.

Rei nodded in acknowledgment before glancing at Asuka.

"The offer stands for you as well, Pilot Shikinami."

Asuka's eyes widened and the girl seemed to take a few moments thinking over how to respond. When she did however she cracked a smile.

"I think you can just skip the 'pilot' part there and call me Asuka," the redhead said. "I've been calling you Rei long enough as it is."

Rei regarded Asuka before shifting her gaze to Shinji. The boy also smiled and nodded. Rei returned it before looking back at Asuka.

"Very well, Asuka-san."

* * *

The party had died down as the hours passed, the plentiful and delicious food consumed with gusto. Even PenPen seemed to have had its fill. As night fell their classmates departed, leaving the pilots alone with the adults. Shinji had come out to the terrace to get some air and looked out at the city once more. He had fought to protect it many times already and would fight again to do so in the future. Here was his home, his friends, and if he was right, his family. Not the father that had abandoned him in his childhood, but the guardian that took him in when he first arrived and the girl that he just knew was somehow related to his mother. Yet Shinji did not possess all the answers yet and the need to know burned strongly in him. He would find the answers though, of that the boy was certain.

"Shinji-kun?"

Glancing back, Shinji saw Misato join him.

"Misato-san," he greeted back.

"Woolgathering out here?"

Shinji smiled slightly. "I guess. Thinking about family."

Misato turned solemn for some reason at that, a change that did not escape Shinji. He shifted his gaze back toward the city as the woman stepped next to him.

"The doctors say you remember your mother now."

A nod. "I remember what she looks like."

"Then I guess you've already made the connection?"

"Yeah." Shinji turned to face the woman. "Misato-san, is Ayanami related to my mother?"

Misato pursed her lips before reaching into her pocket. She withdrew a photo and handed it to Shinji. The boy took it and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"Mom."

"Amanda got ahold of that photo recently," Misato said. "She was preparing to pass it on to you but, well, so many things happened that she never got the chance."

"I see," Shinji said. "So she was still looking. I should thank her."

"Keep that photo hidden," Misato warned. "She went to a lot of trouble getting ahold of it, and she could get into a lot of trouble for giving it to you."

"I will," Shinji assured her with a firm nod.

"Good. And as for your other question, we're still looking. Rei definitely looks like your mother, the similarity is almost unnerving. But we haven't established an exact relation. She might be a cousin, or, well…"

"She might be my sister."

Misato nodded slowly. "We can't be certain. But, I don't think it'd be wrong for you to think of Rei as family."

"I understand. And, thank you, Misato-san."

The woman smiled warmly before sighing. "There's one other thing, Shinji-kun."

The boy cocked his head to the side.

"You know that when I took you in, I assumed guardianship over you?"

Shinji nodded.

"Well, I was also meaning to talk to you about this earlier, but well, so many things happened," Misato said. "And I don't mean to make this kind of decision for you, you have the final say over this so feel free to say no, but, well…"

A mixture of curiosity and foreboding was rising in Shinji but he kept still waiting for Misato to gather her thoughts. Finally the woman closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them to hold Shinji in her gaze.

"I'd like to adopt you, Shinji-kun," she said, "so that we'd be a real family, not just pilot and commanding officer or ward and guardian. We'd be, well, parent and child."

This time it was Shinji that froze up as he stared wide-eyed at the woman. Misato smiled nervously as she took in the boy's shock.

"It's your choice," she said softly. "Even if you don't want this, I'll still be there for you as your guardian, don't doubt that for a second."

The boy blinked a few times, at first instinctively and then trying to clear his eyes as his sight suddenly became muddled. The cause was soon apparent as wet streaks ran down his cheeks. Shinji sniffed, rubbing his eyes to try to stem the tide. Instead his actions only opened the floodgates as tears came flowing forth. When he looked at Misato once more however Shinji's eyes were clear and bright. Here was a person who truly wanted him around, who was not trying to manipulate him or trick him into helping them. Here, was his family. The boy smiled and stepped over to the older woman, reaching out and entering the embrace she offered.

"Thank you, Misato-san," Shinji said. "I'm, I'm home."

Misato found her own eyes misting as she held the boy. She ran a hand through his hair gently.

"Welcome home, Shinji-kun."

End of Chapter 16

Enjoy the WAFF while you can. I have plans for the Sixteenth Angel Armisael. Big, big plans. I'm actually going to rewrite a few scenes I had already drafted due to said plans. Let's see how big a mind screw I can pull off.

And here concludes another short chapter. Well, shorter than the average in my current fic. I'm somewhat of two minds whether I rushed this one or not. By all rights I should have provided more exposition of Shinji and Asuka recovering together, but I think I'll reserve that for later. My excuse will be that the two were suffering from the snapback from their connection badly enough that the chances for them to hold a normal conversation was limited. We'll also explore a bit more about the connection they established later. One could actually say that this chapter existed purely to push along a couple of plot strands, setting the stage for the relationships that will grow from here on.

I'm also of two minds regarding chapter 15. Way more spelling/grammar mistakes made it through than I would generally consider acceptable so I may go back sometime and upload an updated version. My primary concern however is whether I did a good job with the portrayal of the regiment fighting the Angel and its spawn. Personally it felt somewhat, thin, to me. I don't really feel like I showed much of the regiment actually fighting, nor do I think I did a very good job in the scenes that did involve direct fighting. A lot of it seemed too detached. Part of that might be because we were watching the fight from Kayabuki's perspective and as the regimental colonel her job is to oversee the fight, not get stuck in with her troops. We'll see if I ever get an opportunity, and how well I do with it, to write a more direct combat scene. For all my interest in military fiction, I think that is one of the weak spots in my writing.

I think it should be fairly obvious now that the chapter titles do have some meaning with respect to the contents of the chapters. I will admit that some may not be obvious or others may seem overly broad, but ultimately the meaning is also what all of you make of it. I have my own internal rationale for them but other people's are just as valid.

Oh and yes, what Amanda says to Misato does have a deeper meaning. Seeing as I've been setting it up since the bloody prologue, you can bet it'll be significant. Feel free to speculate.

Anyway, drop me a line with what you think so far.

Z98

Sidenote: I've noticed that people have been looking at a few more of my older stories. To be frank, the only one that I can seriously recommend right now would be Darkness Risen (on hold until I get In Tune done). It's the only one that comes anywhere close to the quality of In Tune. Point of the Spear is the next, but that one was started when I was just hitting my stride in terms of prose and so has a lot rougher edges. Everything before that has, slightly more complex issues and I'm not sure I can recommend at this point.

Sidenote 2: I am mildly curious as to whether the person from Japan reading the fic is actually a Japanese person or an expat living in Japan.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Scordatura

The rows and rows of soldiers in parade dress was quite the sight, though there were telling gaps both large and small. Here and there entire blocks were empty while others had smaller such spaces. Upon the platform were seated several officers all in formal service dress, some looking far more clean cut and neat than most of their associates were used to seeing.

Amanda was almost always neatly dressed, her long brown hair usually tied back in a ponytail much as today. Her uniform now however was slightly more ornate, the navy blue of her uniform trimmed with a polished silver instead of the dull metallic gray. On her shoulders were the silver olive leaves of a UN major, though her brevet rank did permit her to wear the crossed wings eagle of a colonel. Today was the regiment's time to shine however and Amanda felt no need to flaunt her position. An equally dark blue beret capped everything off.

The woman standing next to Amanda looked equally sharp in her black uniform. Red framed Misato's collar and sleeves as well as the leaves on her shoulder. Her flowing hair was also in a tight bun, giving the woman a stern look topped off with her own matching black side cap. Of those present, Amanda and Misato were the only women in skirts. Kayabuki and her female subordinates on the other hand had gone for a more utilitarian look despite the formality of the event.

Due to the haste with which the 597th was established, the men and women of the regiment had never been issued with parade dress. This was perhaps not surprising seeing as higher priority was placed on things they would actually need to use in a battle. At the same time the JSSDF had never bothered ordering the troops to turn in their old dress uniforms, so today the regiment stood at attention in the olive green of that service. Kayabuki herself was sharply dressed from the polished black shoes to the spotless white gloves. Her old uniform originally only had the two cherry blossoms of a lieutenant colonel, but her subordinates were adamant that she not suffer the indignity of that oversight and arranged for some retailoring to add the third flower appropriate for a full colonel. When Kayabuki found out about it she made sure that all of her subordinates were also supplied with the appropriate modifications for whatever their new ranks were, including the captain standing beside her. By the end of this day however Kudo's uniform would be seeing a few more changes yet.

Then there were the three adolescents in slightly mismatching dress. Asuka did hold an actual commission from NERV as a second lieutenant and amongst the packages that followed her from Germany was her formal parade dress. The redhead's more or less matched Misato's, though the girl had managed to get a beret for her headgear instead of a side cap. Upon seeing it Misato was already plotting how to do the same seeing as that side cap looked like a damn bowl on her head. As neither Shinji nor Rei held any such commissions they were simply in formal attire, Shinji in the same suit that he wore to Soren's concert and Rei in a similarly somber business dress.

The ones most conspicuous however were those absent, though no one here felt particularly offended by that absence. If they were to be completely frank and honest, not having Commander Ikari around could only be a bonus. Misato and the pilots were perfectly acceptable representatives of NERV in their books after all, whereas quite a few soldiers in the regiment had heard rumors about what transpired in the medical wing during the battle with Sandalphon.

More than one soldier in the regiment had not been terribly impressed when they first caught a glimpse of the Third Child. All they saw initially was a rather scrawny boy that seemed well out of his depths. That opinion was already shifting after they fought Shamshel by his side and even more so after the battle against Ramiel. Then that same scrawny boy had found the will to come to their rescue when Matarael launched its unexpected onslaught alongside the Second Child and quite a few of those soldiers felt they owed all of the pilots a debt of gratitude and honor. Now here they were, acknowledging the sacrifices that the regiment had also made in their united fight against the Angels.

Amanda stepped forward to the podium and looked out at the assembled men and women. They stood attentively and patiently, proud of their achievements but also cognizant of the costs. These were men and women that had undergone their baptism of blood and emerged whole, ready to face ever greater challenges. Soon enough they would be called upon for an even greater task, one that would test their sense of duty and integrity. But today they were here to celebrate an achievement very much worthy of their honor.

"On the date of October 9th 2015," Amanda began, "the 597th Regiment of the United Nations Military Command engaged the Angel designated Matarael alongside Evangelion Unit 00. In the course of the battle the Angel split into a mass of smaller creatures and swarmed the defensive line established by the regiment, surprising many elements. Despite the unexpectedness of this development however regiment did not break and held its positions, ensuring that the Angel spawn were not able to reach the city and harm the civilian population."

True the regiment had not broken, but too many of those that stood their ground and fought were not here to share in this honor. The firmness of Amanda's words however made clear that their sacrifice had not been in vain and would not be forgotten.

"The Angels are the most horrific enemy that mankind has yet encountered, an enemy without mercy or compassion. The 597th have faced that enemy numerous times, always carrying forth its mission with courage and honor. The victory against Matarael was but the latest demonstration of the regiment's heroism and I am certain it will not be the last. For the gallantry thusly demonstrated in its short life, it is my immense honor as the resident UN Auditor-General to present the 597th Regiment with the United Nations Distinguished Unit Citation."

A sort of electricity swept through the air, the men and women of the regiment collectively sharing a sense of elation at Amanda's words. No the award would not bring back their dead comrades, but at least in some small way it meant they were being honored and would be remembered. And not just the dead, for the ceremony was just beginning. One by one Amanda called out the names of individual men and women, summoning them from their position in the ranks up to the platform. There she read out the details of the action conducted by the solder before presenting him or her with the requisite medal of valor. Three hundred and fifteen men and women were thus called for, three hundred and fifteen out of three hundred and sixteen of those present this day.

"Captain Terazaki Kudo, please step forward."

The captain obeyed and fell in line before Amanda. To the surprise of many Rei also rose and walked over until she was standing behind Amanda.

"On the date of October 9th 2015 during the battle against the Angel Matarel, the command unit of the 597th Regiment came under attack by the Angel's remnants. During the confusion Colonel Kayabuki was rendered unconscious and the chain of command became disrupted. Upon discovery of his commanding officer's incapacitation, Captain Kudo rallied the elements in the vicinity of the command element and led a resolute defense that stymied the Angel's attempt to break through to Tokyo-3. In addition, Captain Kudo continued coordinating the other units of the 597th and organized the counterattack that delayed the Angel and protected the disabled Unit 00 long enough for the arrival of Units 01 and 02. For demonstration of gallantry and dedication well beyond the call of duty, the United Nations Military Command hereby awards Captain Kudo with the Distinguished Service Star and an elevation of one grade in rank." Amanda saluted. "Congratulations, Major Kudo."

Kudo blinked rapidly and barely managed to keep from stuttering as he snapped a salute in response. "Thank you colonel!"

From the box Rei took out the gold colored star and carefully pinned it on the awestruck man's uniform. Amanda and Kayabuki then stepped to his sides and removed the old captain insignias, replacing them with those of a major. Kayabuki then stepped before Kudo and saluted. The newly minted major returned it, looking stunned as his colonel gave him an approving and genuine smile. That was perhaps the greatest reward for the man today.

* * *

The award ceremony had taken most of the morning and despite having been excused from class for it the pilots ultimately were unable to stick around for the reception afterward, instead being flown to school. They barely made it in time for lunch, though none had been able to change before being stuffed in the helicopter. As they stepped out all of the windows facing the field were crammed with students gawking. It must have been quite the sight what with Asuka in her uniform and Shinji and Rei dressed so formally. Hoots and squeals could be heard in equal measure, which only caused the Second and Third Child to feel even more tired. Rei remained her usual stoic self.

"Why did we have to come to school today," Asuka grumbled. "Why couldn't we stay for all that food."

"Because of the exam next week," Shinji responded lethargically, "and because this week is review week. Just be glad we got out of the history review this morning."

"Count on you to always see the silver lining," Asuka said as they entered the school.

As the girl came before her shoe locker she abruptly stopped.

"Something wrong?" Shinji asked.

Asuka's eyebrow twitched and she simply pointed at the locker. It took only a cursory glance for Shinji to notice the corners of envelopes peeking out.

"Those brats," Asuka muttered. "I thought Hikari'd gotten it through their skulls to not pull this kind of stunt again."

"I think it'll take even Hikari-san a while to get that to stick," Shinji said. "You're just too…radiant for them to stay away."

Asuka chuckled at the boy's wording. "My, when did you get so eloquent?"

Shinji smiled shyly but before he could respond a thunk sounded from the other side of the lockers. The two peeked over to see Rei staring in confusion at a stack of envelopes at her feet. The frown on her face was slight but evident enough for those that had been around her as much as Asuka and Shinji.

The redhead whistled in amusement. "Guess Wondergirl's also building up a fan club. Heh, shall we check yours next, Shinji?"

Shinji sighed.

"This is rather inconvenient," Rei verbalized for all of them.

By the time the trio entered the classroom, each had a hefty stack of notes in their hands. Hikari looked at them sympathetically while Kensuke and Toji did not even bother hiding their amusement.

"Hikari," Asuka said, "can I use the shredder again?"

The faces of quite a few boys fell at the girl's words but the class rep simply nodded.

"No problem, follow me."

As the two girls moved towards the door Rei trailed after them. Hikari paused and looked at the girl in surprise.

"Oh, Ayanami-san, did you also want to use the shredder?"

Rei nodded and lifted her own stack to show the girl. It was as big as the one Asuka was cradling. The groans and cries of anguish were now quite audible.

"No problem, c'mon." Hikari then glanced back at Shinji with a curious look. "Shinji-kun? What about you?"

"Umm," the boy said nervously, "I'm fine."

A palatable pressure seemed to descend upon the boy and Shinji did not even need to look around to know that the majority of the boys were glaring daggers at him. Conversely it was also evident that the squeals around him were from more than one girl. Hikari gave him an approving look while Asuka's was a mixture of amusement and, was that irritation? Before Shinji could do a double take Asuka was out the door. The boy shook himself. That had to have been his imagination.

"Whelp," Toji said, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder. "It was nice knowing ya."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.

His two friends exchanged looks.

"Waddaya think Kensuke, should we tell him?"

"Nah, it's more fun for him to figure it out by himself."

"True that."

The smiles the two were now beaming at him were less than reassuring for the boy.

"Whatever," Shinji said in mild irritation. "I need to go change and try to get some food, assuming the cafeteria isn't completely sold out already."

"Didn't have time to make anything this morning?" Kensuke asked.

"No, we had to leave really early for the-ceremony," Shinji corrected himself.

"Oh?" Kensuke's ears perked. "What sort of ceremony? Shikinami-san was in parade dress and you and Rei are both wearing formal clothes. Was it something NERV related?"

"Sort if," Shinji said with a shrug. He doubted the ceremony was actually classified, seeing as they were there to honor the regiment. "I'll tell you about it later."

With that Shinji dashed out of the classroom for the lockers. Toji glanced at his friend.

"Ya think we should really be letting devil girl sink her teeth into the prof?"

"Bit late for that," Kensuke said. "And besides, I don't think Shikinami-san's that bad."

"Are you nuts!? Did you forget what she did when we first met!?"

Kensuke smiled slightly. "If some random guy had caught a peek of the class rep's panties, what would you have done?"

Toji slumped back down into his seat. "I woulda socked him a new one. Alright, I get your point, but still. Her and the prof?"

"Well we'll just have to see how things turn out," Kensuke said, adjusting his glasses and letting the light bounce off them. "After all, we can't count out Ayanami-san just yet."

* * *

"So there you are."

Maya looked up and smiled at the sight of her boyfriend.

"Keitaro, what are you doing over here?"

"Just making my rounds," the older man said as he slid down the ladder. "You'd be surprised what things you end up discovering when using your own two eyes."

"Don't I know it," Maya said, leaning back against the wall. "Sometimes I think the only reason I haven't found a problem in some system is because I haven't tried looking.

Aramaki chuckled. "My, how diligent. Speaking of which, have you had lunch yet?"

The grumbling of her stomach answered that and Maya blushed slightly as Aramaki's chuckle turned into a light laugh.

"What I thought. Here."

Aramaki presented Maya with a sandwich wrapped in a napkin.

"Thank you Keitaro," Maya said. "I had gotten so caught up with this that I didn't realize what time it was."

"Getting your work done is important, but so is taking care of yourself."

Maya smiled and took a bite from the sandwich. Aramaki could not help but smile at the sight of his girlfriend huddled up against the wall like that. The lieutenant looked extremely youthful for her age and could easily be mistaken for a university or perhaps even a high school student. If he was to choose a word to describe the sight before him, it would be cute.

"Oh," Maya said after a mouthful. "This isn't from a vending machine."

"Heavens no," Aramaki said. "I swung down to the cafeteria for it. The food's gotten quite edible over the last few months."

The couple exchanged knowing smiles at that. Upon her arrival Amanda had wasted little time arranging for additional funding for the cafeteria. That money had allowed for the hiring of better chefs along with buying higher quality foods. The accountants had initially resisted but the auditor knew how to fight dirty. By her decree all food served on-base needed to come from the cafeteria, including that for the senior officers. Seeing as this included Commander Ikari, the bean counters had found their usual reticence in spending money to take a back seat to their fear of the man.

"So what exactly are you doing down here anyway?" Aramaki asked.

"Oh, doing some diagnostics on Unit 00. It took a real beating in the battle with the last Angel."

"Yes, so I heard. It was a good thing the other pilots were able to intervene."

"Yes," Maya agreed. "If they hadn't gotten there when they did, well, a lot more people would have died."

At heart Maya was a kind person and it was one of the reasons Aramaki had been attracted to the young woman. Another was her intelligence, the same intelligence that saw her appointed as the sub-head of the technical division.

"So, how is Unit 00?" Aramaki asked, partially to get Maya's mind off the battle and partially because he himself was curious.

"Oh, regeneration of the leg is going well," Maya said. "We're already in the process of replacing the armor plates that were damaged elsewhere, but we won't be able to get started on the leg until next week, then it should take another week to finish."

Aramaki blinked. "Two weeks?"

Maya nodded. "Yes, it'll be about two weeks before Unit 00 is fully operational again."

The young woman was busy finishing off the sandwich and so did not see the look on Aramaki's face. Had she, she might have noted the concern that crossed it. By the time Maya did look up again however Aramaki had managed to assume his cheerful façade once more, even as his mind raced considering the implications of lacking an EVA for Sahaquiel's arrival.

"Anyway, thanks for the food," Maya said as she closed her laptop. "I need to get down to a meeting with sempai."

Keitaro raised an eyebrow. "And what would have happened if I hadn't come along?"

"I'd have gone to the meeting with an empty stomach."

The man shook his head ruefully. "Do take care of yourself, Maya."

"I know, and I'll try. Anyway, thanks again."

With a parting kiss on the cheek Maya climbed out of the balcony. Keitaro sighed, trying to decide just how worried he really needed to be. Then again dealing with the Angels was not his job. Better to leave that to the experts like Amanda and the pilots.

* * *

The meeting room was actually fairly sparsely populated what with NERV's commander and vice-commander not physically present but the two were connected via a secure channel. Four other people were physically present but even with all the available space they clustered together. Or rather, they clustered into their respective camps. Maya of course stayed by her superior's side but with Ritsuko trying to keep some distance from Amanda the result was the two of them sitting at the opposite end from the auditor and Misato. No one made any comment on the arrangement however, they had work to do.

"We've completed the diagnostics on the EVAs," Ritsuko said, "and it appears that there was a harmonic resonance in effect between the pilots and one of the units. Specifically, Unit 02."

"Was it from when Shinji and Asuka piloted it against Gaghiel?" Misato asked.

"Maybe," Ritsuko said. "To be frank it was a minor miracle we detected the resonance at all, especially since it had almost completely disharmonized by the time we ran the scans. And interestingly, assuming our projected rate of disharmonization is correct, it began after Shinji got into Unit 01 to fight Matarael."

"Almost as if Unit 01 was reclaiming its pilot," Amanda said offhandedly.

Ritsuko grimaced at that particular phrasing and Misato thought he heard a cough coming over the channel. Apparently another secret of NERV that she did not know, yet at least. Seeing as she had signed on with Amanda, her friend owed her some explanations.

"Is there any chance of this happening again?" Misato said instead.

"Unlikely though not impossible," Ritsuko said. "Remember that it's just a supposition that they harmonized due to piloting Unit 02 together. For all we know the synchronization training they did for fighting Israfel might have also played a role. There are just too many factors at play here."

"If there is that much uncertainty, then do we actually know if the connection is broken between the two?" Amanda asked.

"Yes," Ritsuko said, sounding far more assured of herself. "We've run extensive scans of both pilots and the EVAs. By the time we started the resonance was already very weak. At this point their waveforms are distinct and any points of harmonization are within the margins between any other human."

"That is good," Fuyutsuki said over the radio, "but what of the increased synchronization we saw when they launched against Matarael?"

The doctor adjusted her glasses as she answered. "The only other data point we have of such an occurrence was when Shinji and Asuka both achieved a 100% sync rating when in Unit 02. The natural inference is that their harmonization with each other allowed them to also synchronize more with their EVAs, but honestly that goes against quite a few of our previous assumptions of how the EVAs work."

"What assumptions would those be?" Misato asked.

"In theory an EVA can only be synchronized to a single person at a time and having more in an entry plug would introduce noise that should decrease synchronization, not increase it. I suppose Shinji and Asuka's little stunt against Gaghiel already provided a data point against that, but until now it really did not seem much more than just an anomaly, especially seeing as they weren't able to hold their increased ratio for more than a few seconds. This time around both of them held it for several minutes from when they first boarded to when their batteries died."

"So in other words the EVA remains as much a black box as ever," Amanda said dryly.

Despite herself Ritsuko nodded in agreement. "We understand some of the basic principles, but the boundary between the pilot and the EVA itself is, still prone to surprising us from time to time."

Misato frowned. Those surprises had an unpleasant habit of causing her kids considerable suffering and she did not like it one bit.

"Do we know if this will have any effect on their overall synchronization?" Ikari asked.

"We're actually seeing a slight uptick in both their ratios," Ritsuko said. "Both are up by a few percentage points, though Shinji less so than Asuka. He may still be reconciling his mental state with his knowledge of what happened to his mother."

Amanda idly wondered whether that was a subtle dig by the doctor against the commander. Not that it was not callous, but if Ritsuko really was feeling rebellious then maybe her words were getting through. Then again she might be reading too much into it.

"So long as he remains capable of piloting it is not a concern," Ikari stated.

This time Misato did scowl but a quick kick under the table kept her from saying anything aloud. The time would come but it was not yet.

"Continue your investigation, doctor," Ikari ordered. "I will want a detailed report once I return."

"Yes sir."

The connection terminated and Ritsuko did not even bother with any parting pleasantries before making her leave. Maya at least had the courtesy to bow as she left, a gesture that the other two women returned with nods of their own.

"Is it my imagination," Misato said as she continued looking at the closed door, "or is Ritsuko a lot more distant than usual?"

"It's not your imagination," Amanda said as she gathered up her own papers. "Ritsuko's going through some personal issues right now. Beyond that, I can't really say much more."

Misato raised an eyebrow. "Is this what we talked about before?"

"It's not entirely unrelated," Amanda said, "but her situation is more peripheral than core at the moment. Anyway, let me deal with Ritsuko. For now, you focus on the pilots and the Angels."

"Alright. Just remember though, Rits-chan is still a friend."

"Oh, I won't forget, trust me."

* * *

With the upcoming exams and their recent absence the study group of the pilots and their friends was shifted to a daily occurrence instead of a weekly one. Today's session had something of a slow start due to Shinji and Asuka frantically making a snack for themselves after school due to a lack of lunch. Even Rei pitched in a bit and so a platter of mostly eaten sandwiches graced the center of the table as they reviewed the coursework. Toji's singular attempt to sample said sandwiches had ended in retreat after Asuka audibly growled at him and Hikari cast him a chiding glare. The boy was wise enough to know when he was beat and so withdrew his hand before a certain redhead decided to do it for him.

"Alright, that's the history review," Hikari said. "To be honest the history test isn't that hard, it's more or less a gimme that everyone should get a passing score on. Right Toji?"

"Ah give me a break class rep," Toji said. "Do you know how hard it is to not completely zone out when the teacher's droning on and on about pre-Impact?"

"Oh stop whining stooge," Asuka said. "We all survive it and still manage to score well, or are you saying that's beyond that little head of yours?"

"What did you say!?"

The redhead ignored the jock's burst of outrage and rummaged through a pile of notes next to Hikari.

"Alright, so I ended up missing a couple days of note taking duty, what's my makeup schedule?" she asked.

"Oh, we decided to just put you an extra slot every other week," Hikari said. "You were absent for a really good reason after all, seeing as your job is fighting Angels."

"Note taking duty?" Shinji asked.

"The girls in the class trade notes for the history lectures in the morning," Asuka said. "That way only one or two of us needs to get our soul drained by the teacher."

"What, what? Why didn't we know about this!?" Kensuke demanded.

"Because it's only those of us who can take legible notes that're in on it," Asuka said.

"Then why are you part of it?" Toji retorted. "You can't even read kanji!"

Asuka raised an eyebrow and flipped open her own notebook. She proceeded to present several pages of neatly composed Japanese, a mixture of kanji and kana that would have not been out of place in say the class rep's notebook.

"As you can see, some of us are capable of learning," Asuka said with a smirk.

This time not only Toji but Kensuke and Shinji were also staring with dropped jaws. Shinji had known that his fellow pilot was working towards making up her kanji deficiency but he had had no idea she had made that much progress. In the midst of his amazement however another thought occurred to him.

"Umm, are my notes okay?" Shinji asked, presenting his notebook to Hikari.

The class rep perused through them quickly, her eyes scanning through the text with impressive speed. With a smile she closed it and handed it back to Shinji.

"Yep. Sometimes you miss bits and pieces and focus too much on minor points, but that's why we always have two people taking notes so that we can fill in the holes for each." Hikari opened another notebook and a page with her pencil. "I can put you into the rotation if you want, Shinji-kun."

"Please," Shinji said with a slight smile, pointedly ignoring the glares his two male friends were shooting him. If he could get out of having to listen to the history lectures a few days a week, he was all for it.

"Alright," Hikari said as she jotted down Shinji's name. "I'll work out your placement later and let the rest of the group know."

Asuka snickered. "Congrats on being the first guy to make it into the group. You're turning out to be a real Casanova."

"He's got plenty of experience in it seeing as he's surrounded by girls at both school and NERV," Toji said.

The boy flushed. "That's not it at all!"

"What was that!?" Asuka blurt out simultaneously.

"Woah, don't get so hot and bothered about it," Toji said, "it was just a joke!"

That, was perhaps a poor choice of wording on the boy's part as Asuka looked ready to once again demonstrate her competency in hand-to-hand.

"Oh yeah, you said you were going to tell us where all of you were this morning!" Kensuke interjected, throwing a pleading look at Shinji to help bail out their mutual friend.

"That's right," Shinji followed up quickly, "we were at a ceremony to honor the 597th Regiment. Right, Asuka?"

The immediate burst of anger from Asuka had mostly spent itself but the raised eyebrow suggested that the girl was not quite ready to let the jock off the hook just yet.

"I'm curious too," Hikari suddenly put in.

Sighing, Asuka slumped back into her chair and Toji breathed a sigh of relief before holding up a hand in thanks to his friends and girlfriend.

"Yeah, it was for the UN regiment," Asuka said before grimacing slightly. "They lost quite a few people fighting the last Angel before me and Shinji were able to get there."

"What happened?" Hikari asked, frowning. "I thought the UN forces are supposed to stay out of the actual fighting."

"They are, but this Angel decided to get tricky," said Asuka. "It apparently broken into hundreds of smaller, spawn, and tried rushing Rei. The regiment managed to establish a defensive perimeter first and kept the spawn from overwhelming Unit 00 or making a break for the city, but they paid a price for it. I know they lost one platoon outright and a couple of others got mauled. They suffered easily over a hundred casualties, about half that fatal."

The summary Asuka gave sounded clinical, almost cold, but the sigh the girl let out at the end of it made clear that she did not take those deaths or injuries lightly.

"Colonel Kayabuki's always led her troops well," Asuka said. "She takes action when necessary and she doesn't do anything stupid, unlike what the JSSDF tried to pull with Sachiel." The girl snorted. "Hard to believe she was JSSDF before her transfer, really. Whoever was in charge back then didn't seem to give a damn how useless his weapons were against the Angel, he just kept escalating until they even used an N2 warhead. Bunch of idiots."

"Asuka," Hikari said, squeezing her friend's hand gently.

"Anyway," Asuka said, accepting the contact, "a lot of medals were handed out this morning, and they deserved each and every one of them. The regiment itself even got a citation. And the colonel's assistant got promoted and was awarded the Distinguished Service Star."

"Really," Kensuke said, obviously impressed. At the confused look of his friends and Hikari he elaborated. "The DSS is the third highest award for valor in the UNMC. And the UN's pretty hard up about giving out medals like that, since all of its awards are pretty new and they want to make sure people take them seriously. In a lot of cases actions that would earn someone say, the Order of the Golden Kite, just might get them the DSS."

The look of confusion only disappeared from Hikari and Kensuke sighed. It was a sad, sad thing that his male friends knew less than the girls here about the military awards of their own country.

"The Order of the Golden Kite is the second highest award the Japanese government gives out and it's specifically for acts of military valor," Kensuke continued explaining. "It was abolished by the Allies after World War II but the government brought it back after Second Impact at the same time as the JSSDF was established."

"Oh, I see," Shinji said with a nod. "Amanda-san talked a little about what he did to earn it."

"So what'd he do?" Kensuke asked.

"He showed he was a man," Asuka said. "The colonel got knocked out in one of the attacks by the spawn and he led the platoon accompanying her to beat them off. Then he rallied the regiment and kept them together long enough for me and Shinji to get there. Probably saved Rei's life in the process."

The First Child nodded in acknowledgment of the point.

"Damn, he must be quite the hardass," Toji said.

"Actually, he seemed pretty soft spoken," Asuka said thoughtfully. "He didn't really stand out much when on the podium and I swear he was really nervous when Rei pinned the medal on his uniform."

That statement caused Kensuke and Toji to regard the girl in question with widened eyes and even Hikari spared a glance before turning her attention back to Asuka.

"If I was to say he resembled anyone I knew, it'd probably be Shinji," Asuka continued. "Yeah, definitely more of the Shinji-type than the Maestro or Kaji-type."

"Ikari-kun is caring and strong," Rei suddenly said. "In that regard, how is he not like Reimer-san?"

Shinji smiled at the unexpected support from Rei. He had still been trying to decide whether Asuka was complimenting the major or not by comparing the older man to him but he was perfectly fine with Rei voicing her own opinion on the matter. Even if Asuka had the perfect response ready and waiting.

"Well if you put it that way then you could even compare the Maestro to the jock. But can you honestly say that from that comparison they're similar?"

Rei regarded Toji thoughtfully before finally shaking her head. The poor boy was however at a loss of how to actually respond. He thought that Asuka had just handed him a backhanded insult, but he could not be entirely certain of it. And even if she did, he could not exactly blow up at her with Hikari present. Thus his only choice was to sit there and stew, even as Kensuke's chuckling simply confirmed for him the less than complimentary nature of what the redhead had just said. Not that he needed the confirmation what with her smirk.

The diversion over, the group went back to their studies and prepared to review the chemistry problem sets. Shinji could already feel a headache working its way up to the surface of his head. Really, the price for what little of a normal life he had never felt so steep.

* * *

"Yo Amanda," Misato said as she entered the office. "You said you wanted to talk to me before I left?"

"Have a seat Misato," Amanda said, still flipping through the packet of paper. "Something's come up that I need your help with."

"Alright," the major said warily. "So uh…"

"Don't worry, we can talk freely," Amanda assured her. "The tapes are scrubbed by Section-2 before they hit Ikari or SEELE and I have a hack into the MAGI that shuts off the realtime pickup."

Misato looked at her friend. "How did you get ahold of that? And what's this about Section-2? Wait, Aramaki's one of you, isn't he?"

"Of course. The best way to circumvent NERV's counterintelligence is to control it ourselves. And as for your first question, let's just say that I was doing more than auditing the books while at NERV-Berlin."

Misato chuckled. "Yes, I suppose you were. So, what did you need help with?"

"You remember the Jet Alone program run by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries."

A statement, not a question. Misato simply nodded, letting her friend complete her explanation without making unnecessary comments.

"As you probably figured out at the demonstration, the project had some heavy JSSDF backing. There was no way a simple industrial conglomerate could have gotten as far as it did otherwise, especially not with a nuclear reactor. Now, JA was shut down, but the JSSDF always tries to make sure they never have all their eggs in one basket. They had a parallel program going at the same time that was drawing on the expertise developed by JA, one that they kept under wraps, called the T-RIDEN-T land cruiser, or Trident."

"So if they kept it under wraps, how do you know about it?" Misato asked.

"Because compared to a centuries long conspiracy to end mankind, the JSSDF are a bunch of rank amateurs when it comes to keeping secrets."

"Has SEELE really been around that long?" Misato asked.

"One of these days after we put a bullet through their brains I'll show you the archives. Anyway, right now we need to deal with Trident."

"So what exactly is the problem with it?" Misato asked. "I mean, I doubt it'd be any threat to the EVAs, unless they somehow managed to figure out the AT-field."

"No. SEELE would have shut them down hard if they got anywhere close. But that by itself is the problem. Who or what would the JSSDF use the Tridents on, if not the Angels?"

Misato's eyes narrowed. "I see."

Amanda smiled wirily. The captain was no fool and grasped the implications very quickly. She tossed over the packet of paper she was reading over to the other woman.

"The JSSDF's whitepaper on the project's rationale. You can't take it out of my office but you can read it here. The gist of it is basically that the JSSDF expects a major conflict to break out within a decade after the defeat of the Angels. The Trident and even the positron cannon are part of an armament program to prepare themselves for it."

"The bloody minded idiots," Misato said in disgust as she took hold of the report.

"Quite. And it gets even worse. Because they're expecting the war to break out in the future, they're selecting trainees based on that criteria as well."

Misato's gaze shot up and this time they were filled with horror. "You're joking."

Amanda shook her head, her own voice growing hard. "The current batch of recruits are all around Shinji's age."

The horror transformed into anger and the volume of paper in Misato's hands crumbled in her fist. "Like hell."

"I had much the same reaction," Amanda said. "I'm putting together a little package that is going to make the Japanese government really regret signing off on this."

"You've got my backing for it."

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Amanda said. "This fight is going to get very ugly and very political and I'm certain the Japanese government and the JSSDF are going to fight dirty. In fact I expect them to try to drag the pilots into this."

The look of anger intensified if that was even possible. "They will really not like it if they try."

"Oh I intend to make sure of that," Amanda assured her friend, "but that isn't going to make this any less unpleasant for the children. I'll do everything to protect them and I'll do what I can to keep them out of this, you're actually more exposed."

"Me?"

"You, Major Katsuragi, seeing as you're the one that commands the pilots to risk their lives against the Angels."

The initial confusion disappeared immediately as Misato nodded solemnly. "They're going to try to accuse us of hypocrisy."

"Almost certainly. Don't worry, I'll be cutting the legs out from under that one in the most painful way imaginable for them, but that won't stop them from pushing it out of desperation. It's going to suck, but I think you'll agree that it's something we need to do."

Misato nodded. She then tilted her head.

"You really care about children, don't you?"

Amanda blinked. "Huh?"

"And not just about the pilots," Misato went on. "This isn't just about the JSSDF's warmongering, this is about them using child soldiers."

"I, suppose," Amanda said before shrugging. "Children are the future. How we treat them will determine what shape that future will take."

Misato smiled. "I remember back in Berlin, you were always looking out for Asuka and Mari, like they were your little sisters. Or even like they were your daughters. I think you're going to make one hell of a mother when you and Soren finally get busy."

The nonchalant look on Amanda's face froze and Misato's smile disappeared almost immediately. This was the first time her friend had ever reacted that way to the mention of her own possible children and Misato even remembered times when Amanda mentioned such a future for herself and Soren.

"What?" Misato said softly.

Amanda's hands were clasped tightly before her on the desk. When she looked up to meet Misato's gaze, the woman's eyes were frighteningly blank.

"My grandfather has complete trust in me," Amanda said quietly. "I have that trust because he believes that I have absolute faith in Instrumentality, because I performed a demonstration of that faith. After all, what need is there for children if we were all going to be immortal?"

The shock that ran through Misato was an order of magnitude greater than what she felt after learning about SEELE and its goals. That might have seemed contradictory or perhaps even callous, but what Amanda was telling her now seemed to strike so much closer to her heart. Perhaps it was because Misato herself was also a woman, but at an instinctive level a sense of horror and even terror filled her as she inferred what Amanda was saying now. An inference that Amanda now confirmed.

"I can't have children anymore," the German said, a slight and pained smile forcing itself on her face.

And then the façade collapsed as Amanda clapped her hands over her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes. Misato immediately crossed around the table and took hold of the woman. She felt the trembling, the complete lack of strength as Amanda fell into her arms. Misato thought back to the times when Amanda breezily talked about having children with Soren when things were less hectic, when the world was not in danger of being destroyed by the Angels. How could she not have felt the knife in her friend's heart with every word?

The sobbing grew and Misato found it almost impossible not to let her own tears flow. But she held them back, lending her strength to her friend and providing a solid wall for Amanda to lean against. She held them back by feeding her fury with what her friend had been subjected to, what her friend had sacrificed for all their futures. And she vowed that one day SEELE would feel that wrath in full force.

End of Chapter 17

Many chapters back there was a scene that laid out the fact that Kiel trusted Amanda implicitly. Several of you expressed that you were impressed with that achievement and also lefts comments wondering how Amanda had achieved that. Most of you probably presumed it was a combination of Amanda being Kiel's granddaughter plus her competence. While both played major roles, Amanda also paid a very significant price to get the rest of the way there. And now all of you have learned what that price was. This is not the only sacrifice that the sidesteppers have been forced to make to achieve their goal and quite frankly it might not even be the most extreme. It is however one of the more personal ones and one that Soren personally holds very strongly against SEELE. When the time comes, well, yeah. Amanda herself, despite how strong she is, was also badly affected by it. She's kept a strong front up but it can't hold forever. Now that Misato has joined the conspiracy, she is no longer someone Amanda needs to pretend things around. That combination is what caused her to finally crack here, and I think most people would agree that getting a chance to let it out becomes pretty much necessary otherwise the strain might result in you losing control at a much less convenient time.

I believe I've said this before but when I started this fic I actually had a good percentage of it mapped out. This means I actually know how it will end and I also have much of the events that will happen through it planned. This allows me to sprinkle all kinds of hints and foreshadowing through the chapters as well as set the stage for events that do not come to a head until several chapters later. By the time we get to the last few Angels, well, quite a few plots and threads should start coming to a head.

A note regarding the word apotheosis. I am very intentionally using it. As for why, here's a hint. When Amanda and the other sidesteppers use it, they're using it as an insult.

Anyway, drop me a line about what you all think so far.

Z98


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Prima Donna

By all rights with exams starting tomorrow Shinji should have been cramming. As the least academically astute of his fellow pilots the boy had to expend considerable effort in maintaining and raising his grades. As it was however he found it increasingly difficult to concentrate, especially with Asuka tapping away at a laptop.

"What are you doing?"

Asuka looked up and shrugged. "Looking through my EVA's base code."

Shinji blinked. "Your EVA's what?"

Instead of answering right away Asuka stretched and yawned, apparently having sat in that pose before the notebook for quite some time.

"The EVA doesn't exist in a vacuum," the girl explained. "All the things that it can do, like when it responds when we use the handles or push buttons, all that goes through an operating system. That OS also manages things like the entry plug sensors and the power systems." For some reason Asuka looked at him flatly. "It also controls the self-destruct."

"I, see," Shinji said.

"Anyway, there's a lot of functionality in the OS and I've spent the last year or so digging through it. Some of it's not usable, probably code that was left behind from when they were initially developing the EVA, and others I'm still not sure what they're for." Again the girl's face became devoid of expression. "There are also security measures that are designed to take us out if we go rogue."

Neither of the two little tidbits had come as too much of a surprise to Shinji. He had been personally briefed on the self-destruct by Misato and Amanda had insinuated a few times that there were safeguards in place to prevent a pilot from taking an EVA on a rampage. Shinji had tried not to dwell on either set of contingencies but it was evident Asuka had taken a different view on the matter.

"So what prompted you to start digging through that?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, pure self-interest, I assure you," Asuka stated. "I think it was about the time that the final draft of Amanda's audit of NERV-Berlin's infrastructure was making the rounds. I got ahold of it and let's just say I was, less than enthused trusting my EVA to the same people who let that many security holes pop up in the rest of NERV-Berlin. And so I managed to get a copy of the OS' source code and began digging through it."

"And did you find any security holes?" Shinji asked, his curiosity piqued despite his very rudimentary understanding of the internals of a computer.

"Oh yeah," Asuka said, the look on her face a mixture of pride and disgust. "All things considered the developers of the EVA OS didn't do that bad of a job. The majority of the core is well written and robust and it's all really nicely commented. Some of the additional modules however, well, they weren't quite as nicely documented. Or at all. But after untangling the spaghetti I found quite a few bugs. Most were, benign, but there was a really stupid integer overflow bug in the targeting subsystem. When I brought it to Amanda's attention she went ballistic, since that's the kind of bug that should literally be impossible with the validation that the EVA's code goes through."

"I've never seen her actually yell at someone," Shinji said.

"Oh it's a sight," Asuka assured the boy. "I think I interrupted her when she was reaming Section-2's chief when we dropped in when I first arrived. Probably a good thing she chose one of the soundproofed offices. But anyway, I didn't get all of the code, the security stuff was held back, but I worked out enough of the debug routines to actually get a dump of the binaries. Idiots didn't even encrypt the ROM they were on and I was able to reverse engineer the code." A morbid grin crossed the girl's face. "Did you know that one of the methods for neutralizing a rogue pilot is to increase the LCL pressure until he or she passes out?"

"Umm, not really."

"Well, it is. And the funny thing about that particular method is that it runs into a failsafe in the self-destruct. The self-destruct is pretty much completely and absolutely rock solid, it has direct access to a bunch of other systems and can directly override them to guarantee a set of specific criteria, including that the pilot is fully cognizant of his or her actions, and THAT means it should be able to override any attempts to render the pilot unconscious and it will keep that override lock in place during the entire countdown, which can be set from zero all the way up to five minutes."

Shinji's eyes widened as he absorbed the implications while Asuka grinned darkly.

"Does, Amanda-san know about this?" he asked.

"I dropped hints about it after I first found out about the potential conflict," Asuka answered, looking slightly thoughtful, "and she insinuated to me that I should keep this up my sleeve just in case. So right now you and I are probably the only ones that know about this backdoor, unless NERV's coders were brave enough to try changing the code for something as critical as the life support system."

"I see," Shinji said, reflecting Asuka's own thoughtfulness with some of his own as he pondered the implications.

He was not sure he could see a situation where he would ever need that backdoor though, seeing as most of the people at NERV were very supportive of him and helpful. The boy grimaced slightly. Most was not all of course. And then another of Asuka's remarks drew his attention.

"Umm, Asuka, if NERV's programmers don't touch the life support, program, then who wrote it originally?"

The thoughtful look turned reflective but it was the gentle smile that appeared that really caught Shinji's breath.

"Mama," the girl said quietly.

Shinji could have spent forever looking at that expression. In fact he did spend several long minutes gazing at the redhead. That smile was to him many things. It reminded of the first genuine one he saw on Rei, it reminded him of how happy Mayumi looked when she first thanked him, and most importantly it showed to him that at her core Asuka was a deeply loving person. And then Asuka caught sight of his staring and scowled.

"What are you looking at, Baka Shinji?"

The boy flushed, recalling that on top of that core was a still somewhat prickly pride. And then another thought occurred to him.

"Umm, would you happen to know if my mother wrote any of the EVA's OS?" he asked.

Asuka looked at him with widened eyes before seeming to think it over. Eventually she nodded.

"If I remember it right she was responsible for a lot of the motor control components. Yeah, I remember her comments. They read almost like poetry."

"Really?" Shinji said.

"They're actually in German, which makes it even more impressive how artistic her wording is considering how damn literal my language is," the girl said quickly before shrugging. "Well, I could show you what she did at least, and I can at least get you started on translating them, but if you want to read all of them you're gonna need to learn some German yourself."

Shinji tilted his head before smiling. "I guess it's a good thing I've got a couple of excellent speakers around that I can, absorb the language from."

Asuka snorted before raising an eyebrow at the boy, apparently having taken a second to recall her own flippant comment. Nevertheless she seemed amused enough to remain in good humor and shifted the laptop so that Shinji could also see.

"Alright, let's get started then," the redhead said. "Before I actually show you any code though you'll need some background information to make any sense of it. The EVA's own nervous system is analog, but basically all modern computers are digital. Do you know the difference between analog and digital?"

Shinji shook his head.

"Well, let's start with that. At the most basic level analog signals are continuous, they basically have infinite granularity." Asuka flipped open her notebook and sketched a continuous wave. "For example, this here is an analog sine wave, at any single point along it you can find a value." She then drew a second wave, one that was a series of dots instead of a single line. "And this is a discrete one. Note that if you connected the dots it would look exactly the same, but the only specific values that we have of the signal are the ones I've drawn here. At any other position, the value that we would get is an extrapolation, an approximation. You following so far?"

Shinji nodded.

"Good. Okay, we'll touch upon AC/DC stuff more as we go on. Next, the programs themselves are all written in assembly, so before you can figure out what the programs do you'll need to learn the assembly of the SuperH processor used on the EVAs."

As Asuka continued listing off all the things Shinji would need to learn before he had any chance of grasping his mother's legacy, the boy idly wondered just what he had gotten himself into. And just how badly he was going to end up failing the tests starting tomorrow. His mind was simply too alight with the hints Asuka had dropped. To see something actually written by his mother? Notes that detailed her work? Maybe he might start to understand just why she helped build the EVAs, and why she had climbed into that entry plug never to return again.

* * *

"Amanda, you got a few?" Misato asked as she stuck her head into the former's office.

"Sure," the woman responded as she finished pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Want one?"

"Oh, most definitely," Misato said chipperly as she settled into the seat. "You know Asuka's been pilfering your beans?"

"Of course," Amanda said. "And it's not Asuka that's doing it, it's Soren. He usually gives her a bag after their lessons. He really shouldn't be encouraging her to drink that much caffeine at this kind of age, but I can't very well tell him not to spoil her in the few ways he can, she is his prized protégé after all."

"Funny you should say that," Misato said, tilting her head to the side. "I actually wanted to talk to you about Soren."

"Ah." Amanda reached under her desk before nodding. "Go ahead."

"So, I know that you, Aramaki, and Kayabuki are in on all this. What about Soren?"

"Of course he's in on it," the brunette said, "but you already knew that. Your real question is just how deeply he's in on it."

Misato nodded. "You've told me enough that I can make a few assumptions, including the fact that you would have never been able to marry Soren if SEELE did not find him somehow useful."

Amanda chuckled darkly. "I suppose that's one way of putting it."

"I won't ask what he did to get their confidence, but I need to know where he exactly stands. Is he compartmentalized out of things or is he, perhaps your handler for the BND?"

"Ah, no, no, though I suppose it'd make sense seeing his civilian cover," Amanda said. "No, he's more like an, errand boy? And muscle. Basically he does everything that I can't do because I'm stuck behind a desk."

"Alright, so I can basically trust him with anything that I can trust you with?"

Amanda nodded firmly. "He and I are in this till the end."

Misato nodded, taking a sip from her mug. "Okay, that clarifies that. But I've still got a few other questions about-"

An alarm cut Misato off, eliciting a grimace.

"Is it me or do we always get interrupted when we're trying to talk about something important?"

"So long as we're still around to continue talking, I'll keep my complaints to a minimum," Amanda said as she dashed out with Misato.

* * *

Exam week, that period of school loathed and hated by students worldwide. The students of Tokyo-3 were no different and more than one looked like they were marching to meet their fate this morning. The mood during class was equally dour as most of it was spent in silence save for the scratching of pencil to paper. Silent, until three rather insistent cellphones went off. As it was in the middle of a test the teacher in charge gave the three an accusatory look as if the pilots had intentionally chosen this moment for an Angel attack to happen. Their classmates certainly knew what was about to happen and more than one shot the trio grateful looks. Not that they were intentionally belittling the seriousness of an Angel attack but they were hardly going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Shinji was the only one that apologized for disrupting class while Asuka and Rei were already halfway out the room. The boy was not far behind and all three broke out into a flat out sprint for the exit. Their footsteps drew more than one teacher out wondering what the disturbance was and one glance was enough to tell those same teachers what was up. Still, without an official alert the dogmatism of several teachers insisted that their students continue with the exams. Then again a few were not quite so stiff necked and quickly informed the principal what was happening. Said principal was a woman of not only immense integrity but also strong will who cared deeply for her students. Upon being so informed, she immediately ordered the evacuation of the school. Exams could always be re-sat. Her students however needed to be alive to suffer that inconvenience. Due to the speed of her response, the students and staff of First Municipal Middle School got a ten minute head start before the actual evacuation order was issued.

* * *

"What's our current status?" Amanda said as she entered the command deck.

"The MAGI detected an AT-field in high Earth orbit," Aoba said. "It's playing hell with our satellites, radio communications are more or less useless right now and we're having to rely on line-of-sight lasers."

The other woman frowned thoughtfully. "We're not completely blind then."

"No, but we've lost a lot of capability. And we've also lost contact with the Antarctica expedition."

Which meant losing contact with the commander, leaving NERV to fend for themselves.

"Well in the situation where both the commander and vice-commander are incommunicado, command authority falls to you, Colonel Katsuragi."

Misato pursed her lips and regarded the main display. Assets were still being moved around to respond to the new threat and so far all they had was a reading on the Angel's AT-field. And if the preliminary data was any indication, it was immensely powerful.

"The Americans have managed to maneuver one of their recon satellites into position," Aoba reported. "They're streaming visuals to us now."

"Rather generous of them," Misato remarked.

"President Franklin understands the stakes," Amanda said offhandedly. "He's not going to be uptight about doing the right thing. The current Speaker of the House on the other hand is an ass."

Misato chuckled at her friend's attitude. Any response she might have had however was preempted.

"Stream online!" Hyuga cried out as an image was projected.

Gasps rippled across the command deck as they were met with the sight of a spherical object composed of what looked to be countless eyes swinging about its surface.

"Tch," Misato muttered. "Its AT-field is so strong it's warping light."

"Interesting," Amanda said. "This way we can't pick out the location of its core. I wonder if the Angel is intentionally hiding it or if it's just a side effect."

"Either way we're probably going to need more than one shot from the Yashima positron cannon," Misato said. "Ritsuko, what's the current status of the interconnects?"

"Approximately 50% have been installed," the doctor responded without looking back. "That'll give us enough power to fire full-power shots every ten minutes. If we step it down to about 70% power and assuming we have the grid tap, we'd only be limited to the time it takes to cool the barrel, which is about two minutes."

"Alright. Amanda, inform the Japanese government that we need the grid tap switched on."

"Roger," Amanda said, pulling out her cell.

"Hyuga, get me a line to the UN Space Command. We need to see what assets are available."

"Aye ma'am."

Coming up with a plan of attack did not take long and in fact Amanda was still yelling at the Japanese government to switch on the grid tap by the time the orbital assault began.

"And if you don't want to be dragged before the Security Council to explain why Japan can't pull its damn weight in the war against the Angels, you will have that tap running within the next half hour!"

The auditor might well have continued screaming into the phone save for the fact that it snapped under the force of her grip. Amanda paid it no mind, pocketing the pieces and turning to Misato.

"So? We ready on our end?"

"They're beginning the bombardment now," Misato said.

The feed from the satellite became awash with static but it was quite clear what was happening. While in general conventional weapons were ineffective against Angels, ineffective was not the same as completely useless. At the same time one could hardly qualify an N2 warhead as a conventional weapon. Their destructive power could range from the high kilotons to even a gigaton, though the upper range was still mostly theoretical. And humanity already had examples where N2 warheads could hurt Angels. One had disabled Sachiel for several hours after all and one of the simulated methods for dealing with Ramiel involved dropping enough to also vaporize Tokyo-3 in the process.

On the other hand the Angel now designated Sahaquiel was still up in space so there was not much concern of collateral damage. It had taken a good hour but the half dozen or so weapons satellites in orbit had been diverted and were now in position.

"Well there goes what's left of the Outer Space Treaty," Amanda said dryly.

In some ways the sheer durability of Angels made any plans to deal with them pretty straightforward. Humanity knew that with enough force AT-fields could be pierced, the problem was bringing enough energy to bear. Each of the N2 warheads up in orbit had maximum yields of 200 megatons and each satellite carried a total of twenty. Their presence in space was a blatant violation of international law regardless of whether they were officially up there or not. After today it would be a moot point however seeing as all of them were about to be expended.

A single warhead led the way, smashing into the AT-field and helping establish both the bounds and providing a small bit of data on the field's strength with its detonation. Once that information was processed the remaining warheads were released, their guidance systems selecting a path that would see all of them arrive at the same time and hitting approximately the same point. It was a simple albeit brute force solution to the problem but simple was often best. And who knew, they might actually crack the Angel's AT-field. There was a first time for everything.

It was impossible to actually watch the detonation of the one hundred nineteen N2 warheads and the feed cut out at the moment of the actual detonation. Other sensors were still running however and their telemetry was fed through the MAGI with all haste. From the grimaces that appeared on Maya and Ritsuko's faces the results were not promising.

"Well?" Misato asked.

"There was a fluctuation in the AT-field but it's already stabilizing," Ritsuko said. "The MAGI has preliminary numbers for the field strength, but even assuming they turn out to be pessimistic that Angel's field is considerably stronger than that of Ramiel."

"Damn," Misato said. "Is there any way we can pump more juice into the cannon?"

"Maybe," Ritsuko said, "if we ganged up both the power from the energy storage and the country's generation capacity. But the cannon itself probably can't handle more than another fifty gigawatts at most."

"Damn," Misato repeated. "Then we'll need to try something-"

Another alarm cut off Misato's thought.

"What the hell!?"

The feed had been restored to some extent, enough for them to see the sphere of the Angel burst into pieces. Each eye streaked out, six of them smashing into the now empty satellites that had just launched the N2 bombardment. The rest entered into orbit about the Earth, some just a tad higher than others. The orbits of those lower began deteriorating almost immediately and it was those that the alarm was warning them about.

"We've got incoming!" Aoba shouted. "Several of the pieces from the Angel are on a trajectory to impact on Tokyo-3!"

"Shit," Misato said. "Get all defenses online now! How many pieces are coming down on us!?"

"Ten," Aoba answered. "Each are at least a kilometer in size!"

"Time until impact?"

"We've got maybe half an hour before they hit," Hyuga said.

"And the grid tap?"

"We're getting more and more power diverted to us," Maya said, "but it's coming in slowly. We're only at 12% of capacity."

"Goddamn idiots," Amanda muttered.

"Not much we can do now," Misato said. "Calculate the minimum power needed to break up each piece and go to maximum rate of fire. We'll deal with any fragments with our fixed defenses."

"Aye ma'am!"

"Get our EVAs up there as well," Amanda suggested. "They can at least shoot and if any pieces do make it through they might be able to take a hit with their AT-fields."

Misato grimaced but nodded. "Deploy Units 01 and 02." She turned to Ritsuko. "What's Unit 00's status?"

"Its leg armor still needs to be installed, but it's functional."

"Alright, then we're deploying it as well."

"Ma'am," Hyuga suddenly cut in. "The other fragments."

Misato looked at the projection and her eyes widened. "Oh, hell."

"They're going for the other NERV sites," Amanda said, her voice hard.

"How much time do we have?" Misato asked.

"Three hours for the Second Branch," Hyuga said, his voice quivering ever so slightly. "Three and a half for the First. Five hours for the Third."

Amanda ground her teeth. "That son of a bitch. That, son of a bitch."

There was an eerie, almost feral light in the woman's eyes. None who saw her could mistake the boiling fury emanating from the woman. It was as if she took this assault on her homeland as a personal offense. Misato looked at her worriedly and placed a hand on Amanda's shoulder.

"We need to focus on our own situation for now. If we die, we can't help them."

"Targeting of first fragment complete!" Aoba said.

Misato gazed at the telemetry, her own eyes hard as steel. "Fire!"

The bright lance thundered as it rose into the sky. Few were aboveground to witness it firsthand though all that did could sense the force and even hope it carried with it. One such witness stood with hands clasped behind his back. The light that reflected off his eyes carried not the usual blue, instead shining a brilliant scarlet. Soren watched the first shot strike its target, vaporizing a large chunk of the shell and breaking up the rest into smaller fragments. Off to the distance the EVAs shut up to the surface and wasted little time grabbing weapons. The second shot lashed out two minutes after the first and by the time of the third guns and batteries sited all about the city lit up to join them. Then the EVAs too opened fire, picking off those pieces that made it past the fixed defenses. And then the anti-air elements of the regiment joined in, having scrambled to mobilize the moment they learned what was headed towards their city.

The sky filled with not just the fire from below but also the burning pieces raining down from above. It was a superlative performance with only one of the fragments making landfall. No casualties resulted from that single impact either as Unit 02 absorbed the force with its AT-field. The current engagement could count as a victory for NERV. No one was prepared to make such a premature declaration however, not with more eye pieces yet to be neutralized. And if they were not neutralized, the body count would be horrendous.

While the Second Branch was basically in the middle of nowhere, the others were heavily enmeshed in their home cities. Even worse none of those cities were built to be fortresses and thus did not possess the defenses that Tokyo-3 enjoyed. Then again the host nations of those NERV sites were not about to just let their people perish. Troops worldwide scrambled to mobilize, both to evacuate as best they could and to deploy whatever weapons might stand a chance in shooting down the fragments. Whatever weapon, including the EVAs themselves.

Soren blinked and his eyes resumed their natural blue. The danger was past for the moment in Tokyo-3. Now the rest of the world just needed to hold out long enough for NERV to kill Sahaquiel.

* * *

"It's confirmed," Aoba said. "The strike headed for Germany is definitely targeted on Berlin and not Hamburg."

"Which means the Angel's going after all the sites with EVA units at them," Misato said. "The Second Branch should be fine, they at least have Maria as a pilot for Unit 04, but the First Branch only has the EVA."

"And there'd be no time to configure an EVA for a pilot even if they came up with one now," Ritsuko stated. "They'll have to rely on conventional weapons to take down the eyes."

Amanda snorted. "This is America we're talking about. If they've got one thing going for them, it's boatloads of guns. And the Second Branch is basically a military base. They might not have the Yashima positron cannon, but worst comes to worst they still have N2 warheads to try to make proximity kills."

"The Americans are asking if we have any opinion on flying Unit 03 over to the First Branch," Hyuga said. "It's right next to a major city and there's some concern about what would happen if a fragment makes it through and there isn't an EVA available to try to intercept it."

"I would not recommend it," Ritsuko said. "It would take close to three hours for an EVA carrier to cover the distance and then they would need to bootstrap all of the supporting systems. None of the other branches have the infrastructure for rapid deployment and unless the Americans somehow believe they can guarantee any unexpected problems will get resolved in the," the doctor paused to check her watch, "hour they would have if Unit 03 left right at this moment, there's no point."

"And it would also probably be counterproductive if by moving Unit 03 they ended up drawing the pieces already targeting the Second Branch to also hit the First," Amanda added in.

"Quite," Misato said. "Inform the Americans that we recommend against moving Unit 03 to the First Branch and pass on what Amanda and Ritsuko just said."

"Aye ma'am."

"Which leaves us with Berlin," Misato said with a grimace. "Euro should have the firepower to intercept the eyepieces and with Mari there they've also got a fully operation EVA. Right?"

That last bit was directed at Ritsuko who nodded. "The last report indicated they were finally back on schedule. In fact we were supposed to receive Unit 05 in a few weeks."

"But none of the other pilots have any sort of actual combat experience," Amanda pointed out, "it's all been simulations for them. They've also never actually employed the AT-field, which means they probably don't know how to project it the way Asuka did to catch that fragment that nearly hit us."

"Should we have Shinji or Asuka have a chat with them? Try to pass on some advice?"

"Maybe, or at least have Asuka talk to them," Amanda said. "She and Mari already know each other and Mari at least respects Asuka enough to take any advice she gives to heart."

Misato raised an eyebrow. "You worried about Maria?"

"From what I've heard, she's somewhat competitive," Amanda said. "Like, Asuka without the restraint I've beaten into her. And hiding it behind a polite façade."

"Ah. So the problem is getting her to take any advice seriously?" Misato said.

"Indeed. Then again Maria isn't fluent in Japanese and Asuka's the only one of our pilots that knows English."

"So we might as well have her talk to both of them," Misato said. "We are working against the clock here."

"Quite." Amanda turned to Aoba. "Can you get us a secure line to both the Second and Third Branches?"

"Aye ma'am."

"And while we're at it we might as well provide any assistance we can render to the other branches," Misato said.

* * *

"Lieutenant Makinami, we have a secure line from HQ for you," an operator said.

Mari looked up in the entry plug. "Put it through."

Two projections instead of one popped up, one showing a blond girl that Mari was only peripherally aware existed and another a redhead that she had spent the last five years with as rivals, partners, and even perhaps as friends.

"Yo princess, been a while," Mari greeted in German.

"You too four-eyes," Asuka said back in English, smirking. "Looks like you're finally going to get your debut."

"Can't wait," Mari said. "And you must be Fraulein Vincennes."

"A pleasure to finally meet both of you," Maria said with a polite smile.

Neither of the other two girls were fooled, Asuka because she herself had long ago learned how to feign politeness and Mari because she had learned how to see right through Asuka not much later. Still this was not the time to poke her on it.

"Alright, now seeing as this is your first actual deployment the higher ups thought I should pass on some advice, especially about how to use the AT-field defensively."

"We'd be happy with anything you can teach us," Maria assured Asuka.

Mari on the other hand responded with her more open ways, chuckling and gazing at Asuka playfully. "Our ears are yours, highness."

"They better be," Asuka said, no humor in her own eyes, "cause if you let my city get plastered Mari, I will end you."

The smile was still there on the brunette's face but it took on a determined glint.

"Don't worry about that Asuka," Mari said. "I'll keep our home safe."

Asuka nodded firmly. "Okay then. Now listen carefully you two, the AT-field isn't a forcefield even if at a superficial level it can duplicate the effects. The field does not exert a force directly, it instead creates a separation between what is and is not of the field. That separation can be used to indirectly push or pull but don't even bother with that today, it doesn't work intuitively and this is not the time to experiment. Today, just focus on realizing where the limits of your territory are and using that boundary to keep any fragments 'out' on the other side. And maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to keep some people from getting crushed to death."

* * *

"-and Lieutenants Langley, Vincennes, and Makinami are talking now," the branch commander of NERV-Berlin said. "The Bundeswehr is moving AA units into the city and are also preparing to scramble fighter squadrons."

The man nodded to a tall woman with flowing long brown hair that was obviously in violation of regs standing beside him on the display. Said woman nodded back.

"We've gotten four batteries into position already and with eight more on the way," the woman said. "The problem is going to be if the evacuation ends up clogging the motorways, but worst case we drive them cross country."

"What about other Euro forces?" Amanda asked.

"The French and Brits are putting a couple of additional squadrons at our disposal," the woman said. "No one else really has anything close enough to get here fast enough to do much good."

"Lovely," Amanda muttered.

"Leave it to us Amanda," the other brunette said with a smile. "We'll beat this thing and you can focus on killing that damn Angel."

Of the NERV branches only HQ had a fully-fledged operations department as Tokyo-3 was the only place that was expecting to have to fight Angels. That did not of course mean no one at the other bases considered tactical matters though NERV-Berlin tended to leave the real heavy lifting to the professionals, professionals such as one Colonel Madison Ingrid Metz, an officer of the Bundeswehr that had been seconded to the UN. The colonel had been one of Misato's mentors while the younger woman was at the Third Branch and was a personal friend of Amanda and Soren's. In fact she was a very close friend, one who was dedicated to the same mission as the two.

"Don't worry," Madison said, her smile widening. "I'll make sure you and Asuka have someplace to come back to."

For the first time since the unexpected attack by Sahaquiel Amanda allowed herself a smile. More than one person looking at her felt a chill.

"Ma'am, we've got a reaction from the Angel!" Aoba interrupted them.

The smile disappeared and the gaze of cold rage reappeared. On the display the twirling ball that was the Angel was unraveling. Massive petal-like appendages unfurrowed on opposite sides, feather-like structures dancing along the edges. A luminescent ring formed around the central strip and with the circular ripples the Angel took the form of a massive eye looking down upon the Earth.

"It's still in high orbit," Amanda said with a frown.

Misato regarded her friend. "Something wrong with that?"

The brunette pursed her lips and said nothing, instead simply staring at the feed of the Angel. Misato followed her gaze, not sure what her friend was expecting to see. She was just in time to see a form unfold from Sahaquiel's center. That form was indistinct at first, a bland torso with two spindly arms stretching out. The figure suddenly jerked, convulsing heavily until suddenly splitting in two. Its head fell limply to the side and out from the neck burst another form, this one more recognizable in its feminine curves. The head that gazed down upon them now did so without eyes as where they should have been only black pits stared out. It was not however the eyes that drew everyone's attention. That fell to the messy shoulder length hairstyle that many of the people here saw on a daily basis and which more and more people were attributing to more than just the blue-headed pilot.

"Scheiße!"

Those that actually heard Amanda visibly winced seeing as every time the auditor cursed in her native language things would soon be going to hell. High in the sky the light about the Angel's center flared and a wide, coherent beam solidified.

"Who's atop!"

"It's Rei!" Hyuga responded. The base sudden trembled. "Impact!"

"What the hell hit us?" Misato demanded.

"It's, some kind of solidified light," Maya said. "Wait, it, nothing really hit us, the Angel's beam just displaced everything along its path!"

"What was its endpoint?"

"It's, down by the EVA cages!" Aoba said.

"Pattern orange AT-field detected!" Maya shouted. "It's also down in the cages!"

"Get the EVAs out of there now!" Amanda cried.

"Unit 02's already on the catapult!" Aoba said.

"Launch it!" Misato shouted, her own instincts screaming at her to follow Amanda's reactions to the hilt. "What about Unit 01?"

"Moving to the catapult now," Hyuga reported. "Wait, it's, slowing down, something is holding it in place!"

"Security teams down to the cages now!" Misato shouted into the radio before turning to Aoba. "Get me security feeds!"

A few quick keystrokes brought up several of the camera feeds showing the interior of the EVA cage. Unit 01 could be seen on a jerking railcar trying futily to roll out and standing above it on a catwalk a woman with short brown hair was looking down intently.

"Magnify," Misato ordered.

More keystrokes but as the image zoomed in it became completely pixelated.

"Something's jamming us," Aoba said, decreasing the zoom until the image focused again. "That's the best I can do."

"Shit, Hyuga, how many teams are in position?"

"We've got three squads outside the cages now and a heavy weapons team is setting up, but I have no idea if they'll be enough," the lieutenant said honestly.

"Me neither," Misato admitted as well.

Amanda walked over to a terminal and opened a comm line of her own. "Soren, alpha-blue in the EVA cages. I am declaring Code Extremis and authorizing your deployment."

There was a brief pause before the response came. In that moment however countless unspoken words were exchanged and Soren's answer was their culmination.

"Acknowledged."

Despite everything else going on quite a few people on the command deck were looking over at the auditor, including her nominal good friends Misato and Ritsuko.

"Have the security teams lock down the area but not engage the hostile," Amanda said to the gapping major. "Let Soren take care of it."

"What!? You want him to take on that thing alone!?" Misato demanded.

"Colonel Katsuragi," Soren's voice suddenly said over the operations radio, "I am borrowing a few items from the ninth armory. I apologize now if not all of it is returned intact."

"Soren!? Wait, how the hell did you even get in there!? Hyuga, check the security!"

"It's, the access logs indicate an authorized entry, the ID tag is, UN IPEA?"

"Colonel, this is really not the time to be worrying about that," Soren said with his usual stoicism. "Focus on getting Shinji out of there and defeating the Angel still in orbit. I will handle the intruder."

Misato shot Amanda an irritated look but nodded. "Alright Soren, get down there and keep my boy safe. Aoba, status on EVA lift?"

"Motors are running at full power but it's barely moving," the lieutenant replied. "Something is definitely trying to drag Unit 01 back down."

"Could it be an AT-field?" Misato asked her other friend.

"Possibly," Ritsuko said, the tenor of her own voice revealing her shared consternation with everything that was happening. "We're detecting an extremely powerful pattern orange field down there."

"But if an AT-field is what's holding Unit 01 down, that means if Shinji could erode it we could get the elevator moving again?" Misato proposed.

Ritsuko nodded. "It's worth a shot."

"Shinji-kun, you hear me?"

"What's going out there Misato-san?" Shinji asked. "There's, something out there pressing down on me."

Amanda's eyes narrowed. "You can feel it?"

"Yes. It's not too heavy, but it's definitely there."

"Listen closely Shinji-kun," Misato said. "There's something trying to attack your EVA inside the base. We're not entirely sure what it is, but it is using an AT-field to pin you down. I need to use Unit 01's AT-field to counter it, and then we can get you up onto the surface."

"But what about all of you?" Shinji asked. "I can't just leave you all down here!"

"Shinji, the EVA can't fight down here locked to a railcar and it's definitely not sized to fight inside NERV's corridors," Amanda said. "Leave this one to us, we have contingencies for just this kind of scenario."

"Alright," Shinji said, his reluctance palatable. "I'm making contact with the enemy AT-field."

"Foreign AT-field strength is dropping," Maya confirmed. "The car is moving again!"

"And the Angel?"

"It's sitting in low orbit right now," Hyuga said. "We're still trying to determine-wait! Core identified!"

"Target the positron cannon," Misato ordered.

"Aligning barrel."

Outside the city the massive weapon shifted, adjusting its angle and orientation. The movement was precise and fluid, the bearings and gears that the platform was mounted on turning smoothly until they locked into place.

"Overcharged shot," Misato said. "I want as much juice as we can pump into the cannon as possible."

"Aye ma'am-wait, we just lost lock on the core!"

"How!?" Misato demanded.

"It's, the core is orbiting the torso at high speed!" Hyuga said. "It's jumping around seemingly at random!"

"Seemingly or actually?" Amanda asked as she watched the feed.

"It's, I can't be sure," the operator admitted.

"Run it through the MAGI," Amanda said. "If there is a pattern, it'll find it."

"We'll get on it," Maya said, firing off the necessary commands as Ritsuko leaned over to supervise.

"Is the Angel still just sitting there?" Amanda asked.

"Yes ma'am," Aoba confirmed.

"Okay, so the Angel'll keep for now," Misato said. "Soren, what's your status?"

"Entering the cages now," his voice crackled over the radio. "Preparing to engage."

A feed from one of the security cameras popped up to show the man passing through a blast door that quickly sealed shut behind him. Zooming in the camera had enough resolution to show Soren with an MP5 submachinegun in each hand, his trusty pistol strapped to his hip, and several magazines of ammo running down the sides of his pants. It also showed something much bigger strapped onto the back of the tactical armor he was wearing. Two bigger somethings in fact.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TWO AT4 LAUNCHERS!?" Misato exclaimed.

"Same reason NERV has them on its equipment list to begin with," Soren said, letting one of the MP5s dangle on its strap as he pulled out one of the missile launchers. "I will not be returning these by the way."

Before Misato could demand further clarification a flare lit up on the feed as Soren let loose the first missile. The woman's head snapped up but not even her insane reflexes were enough to allow her to dodge. The explosion did not actually harm her but the shock was still enough to momentarily stun her. Soren tossed aside the spent launcher and charged forth, closing the distance between himself and the woman while she was still recovering.

Without warning the woman toppled over the railing and barreled down towards Soren. The German waited a moment before opening fire to ensure every shot from his MP5 hit. The splattering of rounds on the AT-field did nothing to actually slow the woman down but when she actually slammed into where Soren was standing it was with a physical thud. Soren took one stride forward and slammed his boot into her face. Somehow the woman used the momentum from the blow to throw herself back onto her feet before thrusting her arm at Soren. He caught the strike but as he prepared to twist it about the woman pulled downward, landing on her own back before landing a solid kick on Soren's chest.

Soren grunted but as he tried to pull back the woman refused to let go. Instead she pulled him closer until they were eye-to-eye.

"Hello Shinji."

"You're lucid," Soren said nonchalantly.

"The synchronization is finally strong enough for it," the woman that had the form of Yui Ikari said.

Her grip tightened and the red eyes blazed as they held Soren's gaze.

"So I suppose the only question now is whether you're the beauty or the beast," Soren said.

Yui blinked. Soren slammed his knee into her jaw and leapt, landing behind as he unloaded his second MP5 at pointblank. No scream came however as flashes of light marked each impact against her AT-field. Soren frowned, trying to work out just when she had recovered. Then Yui's fist smashed into his jaw and he had more immediate things to worry about. The punch was strong enough to throw him back but the woman kept her hold on him, not allowing Soren to open the distance. That of course was not enough to stop him from opening fire again as he emptied his pistol into the AT-field. It was somehow still holding.

"You're synchronized with the Angel," Soren said, "drawing from its S2 organ. That's why it's still hanging up there."

"And you seem very impatient to end this quickly," Yui said, the grin on her face maniacal despite her serene tone.

"My job," Soren said, leaning in til the two were almost nose to nose, "is to protect the Children. From anyone, even from the psychopath that is his mother."

The grin widened. "Don't you mean your mother?"

Soren tilted his head. "Thanks for confirming that theory. Now I can kill you without risking Unit 01."

The smile disappeared and Yui's eyes were drawn to the missile launcher that flipped over Soren's shoulder and fell behind her. In a single fluid motion Soren ejected and slammed a fresh clip into his pistol before sliding the barrel under Yui's arm. A single shot hit the launcher's trigger and the missile slammed into the woman's back, throwing both her and Soren halfway across the catwalk.

"He is goddamn insane," Misato said as she watched Soren somehow pick himself up and reload.

Amanda made no comment and instead turned to Maya and Ritsuko. "Status on pattern analysis?"

"We think we've got something," Maya said. "The orbital radius from the torso is changing based on what appears to be an alternating permutation. The MAGI is working out the base integer sequence."

"I don't suppose it'd be Euler," Amanda said dryly.

"It, it is," Maya said in surprise as her console beeped. "How did you know?"

The look on Amanda's face was equally as surprised. "Lucky guess. Feed it into the targeting system. Lieutenant Hyuga!"

"Repositioning cannon," Hyuga said. "Firing sequence keyed to hit where the core will appear when the beam reaches the Angel."

"Fire when ready," Misato ordered.

A few seconds passed before Hyuga looked up. "Opening fire."

The distance to Sahaquiel was approximately two thousand kilometers, considerable even for a beam of positrons traveling at a substantial fraction of the speed of light to cover. The seconds passed intently though not entirely silently on the command deck at NERV and other command centers worldwide as humanity waited to see if they might once again fell an Angel through sheer power.

"C'mon, c'mon," Misato muttered.

Confining a beam of positrons tightly was a necessity lest the majority of the antiparticles become consumed in simply reacting with the matter in its path. Some loss was inevitable and the extreme distances involved only made it worse. Still with an entire nation's power behind it the beam that did reach the Angel was by no means lacking, it was simply not enough. The particles splashed against the AT-field, adding their own light to that of the luminescent barrier as they reacted with the scant wisps of gas in the exosphere. Before the field a storm whirled despite the void of space. Behind it the Angel's form rippled and began spinning, pressing down toward the thermosphere.

"Oh crap," Misato said. "Project its trajectory!"

"Headed right towards us ma'am," Hyuga said, already having run a trace.

"Shit. Is Shinji-kun on the surface yet!?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Alright, we've got three EVAs up there, there has to be something that we can do," Misato said, pacing back and forth. "Time till impact?"

"An hour at most ma'am," Hyuga said.

"Okay, the atmosphere's going to create a lot of strain just from the friction, that should at least weaken the AT-field a little bit, maybe enough to let us break through. Even if it isn't, we can still wear it down."

"It sounds like you have a plan Misato," Ritsuko said.

"Something to that," the woman said. "Asuka already demonstrated the feasibility."

"You can't mean-"

"Command, this is Soren," the German's voice broke in. "What just happened up there, my target suddenly started letting up."

Their gazes drawn back to the cage feed, the command staff watched Soren alternate fire between his two SMGs. He was now steadily pushing back the woman whose AT-field seemed to press in upon her as it tried to halt the spray of bullets.

"That woman entered the base via the Angel's attack," Misato said. "That means there must be a connection of some sort. Perhaps drawing on the same energy source? When we hit the Angel with that positron beam it must have had to divert power to protect itself instead of sending it down there!"

"Which means the more pressure we put on the Angel the easier of a time Soren will have down there," Amanda said. "ETA till next shot?"

"At least five minutes," Ritsuko said. "That last one damaged several systems ranging from power to cooling."

Amanda grit her teeth. The Angel's body created a swirling pattern as it spun downward. At that height the only things that could realistically reach it were ballistic missiles but Japan did not possess any. The Chinese and Russians did though Amanda doubted there was enough time to ask them to light them off to make much of a difference. And then all watched as the Angel wobbled, its wings flaying a bit before realigning. Amanda's gaze jerked back to the feed of the cage and she watched the woman Soren was fighting get slammed into a wall.

"It goes the other way too," she said. "Every time Soren wounds her, the Angel feels it too!"

"Okay, how can we use that," Misato said.

"For one, I could use some more ammo down here," Soren broke in.

"Soren, you've been following what's going on up here?" Misato asked.

"More or less."

The woman rubbed her temples. "Okay, I'll ignore your insane ability to multitask for now, what do you need?"

"More AT4s would be nice," Soren said in between a brief pause in the gunfire as an SMG clicked empty. "Ammo for the MP5s. And get Aramaki on an antimaterial rifle on the upper levels."

"Ackno-a who on a what!?"

The gunfire resumed.

"Misato, you handle the Angel," Amanda said. "I'll coordinate with taking down that woman."

Misato shook herself. "Alright. How much confidence do we have in the projected impact site?"

"It's, deviating from the original course ma'am," Maya said, "I think the Angel is losing a bit of control every time Reimer-san manages to hit that woman!"

"So Soren winning down there is also double-edged," Misato gritted. "Wait, if that woman and the Angel are connected, could killing one also kill the other?"

"That'd be pure speculation," Ritsuko said. "We don't even know how they're linked together."

"Might it be like with our EVAs ma'am?" Maya suggested. "We have pilots that synchronize with our EVAs. Could this woman somehow be doing the same with the Angel?"

Misato glanced over at Amanda who was staring intently at her own video feed. "I suppose this is all speculation. Alright, let's focus on the immediate problem. Lieutenant, how much of a deviation are we seeing with the Angel's descent trajectory?"

"Only about a percentage or so ma'am, but at that altitude it can throw the projected landing zone off by tens of kilometers."

"And even an indirect impact would wipe out Tokyo-3," Misato said with a grimace as she gazed at the map. "Okay, new deployment plan for the EVAs. We can't use the internal rail network so they'll need to move there above ground." The major pointed to three different positions spread out across the city. "If we station the three of them at those locations, any two of them should be in position to intercept the Angel when it makes landfall."

"Intercept? For what purpose?"

"To catch it," Misato said. "The EVAs are designed to fight Angels at close range but with Sahaquiel up there we can't reach it. If it's so obliging to come down to meet us, then let's make sure we have a warm greeting ready and waiting."

"That's insane," Ritsuko declared. "You'd risk losing all of our EVAs if they can't stop the Angel."

"Fortune favors the brave," Misato said. "Dispatch the EVAs."

"Misato!" Ritsuko cried.

The operations chief frowned, surprised at her friend's vehement opposition to the plan. "Do you have an alternative proposal, Technical Chief Akagi?"

"We should focus on preserving the EVAs," Ritsuko said. "The loss of the city is inconsequential compared to the risk of losing all three EVAs."

Misato's eyes narrowed into a dangerous glint and Ritsuko actually flinched at the gaze. "I am the operations chief of NERV and in the absence of the commander and vice-commander, command authority falls to me and it is my duty to defeat the Angels."

"Duty? Or obsession?" Ritsuko said bitterly.

"Deploy the EVAs," Misato said once more to Hyuga before turning to face Ritsuko. "There are currently just over a million people in the Tokyo-3 shelters right now, a million people who would die if that Angel manages to hit. If your vaunted EVAs prove insufficient to save all those people, then they were useless to begin with and their destruction would be of no loss to humanity. Combined with the fact that we have three additional EVAs that will almost certainly survive the lesser strikes on their home bases, the ones we have here are expendable if it means gaining a chance to defeat this current Angel. So unless there is something you want to tell me to make me change my mind, stop whining and get on with your job."

The doctor glared back at Misato but knew she could not reveal the truth, certainly not in front of so many people. Ritsuko glanced at Amanda who did know the real importance of Unit 01 and should have been backing her on this but the German woman seemed to be pointedly ignoring the entire debate and was focusing solely on the battle down in the cages. Ritsuko ground her teeth, realizing understanding full well that she was not going to win this debate and continuing to press it would only further diminish her standing. Cutting her loses she turned to continue monitoring the EVAs and the Angel's descent.

"Sempai," Maya said worriedly.

The doctor sighed, not even able to draw strength from the dedication of her assistant. Things were simply escalating much more quickly than she had ever envisioned.

Yui's attacks were more measured this time and Soren idly wondered whether the woman had ever taken martial arts herself. He did not recall seeing that in her profile but it was becoming clear that engaging her at close range was a losing proposition, which made his running out of ammo more than a bit annoying. He had already radioed in for someone to bring him a sword, NERV-Tokyo's armory actually having a stock of katanas for what was probably some asinine Japanese chest thumping. So long as those swords were not cheap pieces of crap one would be a serviceable improvement over the KM2000 combat knife he was wearing down againt Yui's core-body. One MP5 was already scattered somewhere down in the bowels of the cages, in pieces after Yui punched through it near effortlessly.

"Do you even know why I am here?" Yui asked after deflecting another slash.

"Not really, don't care," Soren replied, thrusting his knife forth before slashing diagonally downward.

This time it was Yui that threw herself back to open up the distance. "Even if I might be here to help?"

Soren snorted. "You've failed in two attempts to kill me and are now engaged in a third. You have a very strang definition of help, Fraulein."

"On the contrary, a mother always looks out for her child," Yui said, head cocked sideways. "And you are a threat to all my children."

"And here I thought I was one of them," Soren said dryly.

"You, are an aberration," Yui stated, her eyes starting to glow again. "You rejected everything I sought to give you, you seek to destroy everything that I have built. You wish not to save my son, but to damn him!"

Soren threw himself onto the ground, the eruption of plasma melting away the railing and singeing the back of his armor. The German felt his other SMG go loose but seeing as he was out of ammo he let it tumble down to join its twin. The more immediately worrying problem was the continued weakening of the catwalk and Soren immediately rose and skipped back toward the exit on his side. This was not exactly a retreat, it was more of a keeping his options open. If Yui managed to destroy enough of the catwalk Soren had no intention of joining her in the fifty meter drop if he could help it. Or, if collateral damage from the fire support did much the same thing.

The 12.7x99mm round that first slammed into Yui was of the sub-caliber variant that utilized a discarding sabot. This variant served superbly as a kinetic energy penetrator but with the AT-field much of said energy was expended without any visible effect on the target. The second round was inequally ineffective against the intended target but the explosion from the incendiary charge took out a good chunk of the already teetering catwalk. Yui had just looked up toward her new assailant when she suddenly dropped.

Soren's own scrambling was a bit more frantic now as the catwalk began collapsing out from under him. Then again he had a head start and was even able to ponder the woman's words as he ran. After their second encounter the collective had concluded that the woman was likely one of two things, either the actual soul of the Yui Ikari that gave birth to the lynchpin of their collective, or a manifestation of the beast within a Unit 01 that had absorbed the memories and mentality of the woman. Despite the twisted insanity shining from her eyes Soren was becoming more and more convinced that it really was Yui Ikari out to kill him. He was equally convinced that it was not _his_ Yui Ikari trying to do the deed, which left countless unanswered questions.

"Reimer-san!"

Soren leapt, grabbing hold of the outreached hand. The other man hurriedly pulled him into the corridor.

"Thank you," Soren said before tapping his radio. "Aramaki, do you see her?"

"Yes. She's, floating in midair. And she's headed your way." The boom of another shot sounded. "She's also ignoring me."

"Alright, I'm going to need to do this the hard way. Katana."

The soldier slapped the blade into Soren's hand. The German unsheathed and examined it, nodding in satisfaction. Proper modern carbon steel instead of traditional tamahagane. Now to see if it would be enough.

"Withdraw," Soren said to the NERV soldiers.

"But sir-"

"Consider anything my husband says to be an order," Amanda said over the radio.

"Y-yes ma'am-I mean sir-I mean-"

Soren grabbed the man by the shoulder, spun him around, and gave him a gentle but forceful push, enough to give him a running start. The German turned and readied himself. The blast door shuddered for one brief moment before toppling over. Yui stepped back onto the ground and advanced upon Soren, all trace of a smile wiped away. Soren steeled himself, not that it looked to be of much help. The corridor exploded.

End of Chapter 18

Greetings from behind the Great Firewall, aka the giant pain in my ass when it comes to accessing google and its services that I would otherwise use. At nearly ten thousand words, I decided I'd end this chapter here. I'm currently projecting another half a chapter to wrap up this battle and then probably the second half of the chapter to deal with the consequences.

You know, I find it very interesting the relative lack of reviews in the last chapter. There was one and I'll get to it later, but besides that one, the 'silence' was more or less deafening. Now that lack of a visible reaction would either indicate people really did not like what happened in the last chapter, or they really liked it and just don't know how to express it. Honestly, I'd have no confidence guessing one way or another. Releasing a work in a serial fashion like this ultimately has the advantage that feedback of the readers can be taken into some account as the story unfolds. Without that feedback however, well, it actually makes it somewhat more difficult to write more, in terms of both motivation and also knowing if I did something that a lot of my writers disagree with. Not that massive disagreement would necessary get me to avert course, as sometimes I may do something that intentionally rubs some readers the wrong way as setup for something that I think they would enjoy later on, but being aware of the likes and dislikes helps me gauge my overall effectiveness as a writer. If I don't get that feedback, then I lack data that can help me improve. So basically, I'd appreciate some more feedback.

Now onto the one review that did come through after I posted the last chapter that went to some length to, lay out the reviewer's dislike of Asuka's portrayal in my story. I'm not going to try to rebut the thing point by point, but I will comment on two things.

First, and this is something that another reviewer pointed out, people often forget that Asuka in the anime was a certifiable child prodigy/genius. Her high intelligence is an established fact in the canon, we just don't really see much of it due to the series focusing mostly on her massive insecurities. In my version a big chunk of those insecurities were dealt with before Asuka even arrived in Tokyo-3, which means she has the room to show off as it were. Asuka is smart and her pride is not going to let her pretend otherwise and I have no particular reason to want to write her in any way to diminish that intelligence. I also am supposed to be writing her in such a way as to indicate that there is still some damage that has yet to heal, though if that's not coming through I will make adjustments as needed.

Second, and this is actually a somewhat interesting theoretical discussion, the matter of ranks for the pilots. This was perhaps not clear enough in the story, but the way that the American and German branches treated their pilots was based off of the air force model. For those of you not familiar with the air force model, all pilots, at least in the US air force, must be officers because they need to be able to issue orders to the support team that maintains the aircraft they fly. This interestingly also means that the fitness requirements of air force officers are, different, from that of the army or marines. So, uh, yeah, trying to measure Asuka or Mari or Maria's qualifications to hold a nominal rank by comparing them to the standards of the army may be somewhat, misplaced. Then there's the fact that I intentionally selected the rank of second lieutenant for them for a reason. The point after all is to allow them to issue orders to NERV's techs, since NERV does operate under a quasi-military command structure, but since they are second lieutenants there are a lot of officers that can overrule them, including several of the bridge command operators, assistant section heads, and of course the section heads and NERV's commander and vice-commander. At this point both Shinji and Rei are de-facto second lieutenants, they just don't hold actual commissions since Rei was previously never really granted the independence necessary for her to wield such authority and Shinji came into the whole piloting thing without any preparation, but by now they have the command authority should they need to order around some techs to get the EVA up and running or if they, say, need to request weapons or equipment. As I've said in the past, I very rarely have a story element without a rationale for it. Whether my readers accept said rationale, well, that's up to each of you individually.

Anyway, rate of chapter production will likely remain slower for the foreseeable future. The plot has grown sufficiently complex that I need to spend more time making sure I get everything I want into a chapter before I pull the trigger and release it. Wish me luck that I don't accidentally leave something out.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Suggeritore

"The readings down there are getting extremely erratic," Aoi said.

"That's good right?" Kaede said. "That means it's getting weaker, right?"

Aoi shook her head. "No, it's definitely not getting weaker. It's, I just can't keep a lock on it, it's disappearing and reappearing on the sensors."

"Do what you can," Amanda said as she looked over the shoulders of the secondary bridge operators.

With two opponents to deal with Amanda had called up the three women to provide her with support, allowing Aoba, Hyuga, and Ibuki to focus on helping Misato deal with Sahaquiel without additional distractions.

"I've lost sight of the target," Aramaki said. "She's disappeared into the corridor."

"The cameras in the cage are functioning correctly again," Satsuki said, focusing and zooming one to the smashed in blast door.

"And the ones in the corridor?" Amanda asked.

"They're all offline," Satsuki said. "They're not even responding to commands."

Good, Amanda did not say aloud. It had not taken long for the collective to figure out how to duplicate the blanking effect Mayumi exhibited and the effort was now paying dividends.

"Keep monitoring the situation," she did say aloud. "Aramaki, where are you?"

"Relocating and grabbing a smaller gun, though not sure how much help I'm going to be."

"Can you rig a section of the corridor with C-4?"

The three operators all looked over at Amanda with stunned expressions.

"Umm, yes," Aramaki replied, "but if I do that Reimer-san is as liable to get caught in the blast as our actual target."

"Soren will be fine," Amanda stated. "Set the trap."

The look of incredibility did not disappear even as the operators went back to their jobs. Amanda's willingness to put her husband in such danger was staggering from their perspective and more than one wondered just who would end up killing the German man, the mysterious woman that was even now trying to gut him or his wife in the process of trying to kill said mystery woman.

Soren for his part was relatively nonplussed despite having heard everything. Instead he focused on giving the head of Section-2 the time needed to set the trap. With NERV's internal sensors so badly scrambled he did not need to hold back nearly as much, a fact that was causing Yui Ikari increasing frustration if her enraged scream was any indication. The German sidestepped an axe kick even as he slashed at the leg in question. Another gash appeared, revealing crimson stone in place of flesh.

At this point Yui's plugsuit was scattered in pieces and Soren had a fully candid view of the body that ostensibly birthed one Shinji Ikari. Said body already had cuts and grooves from other hits Soren had landed, all breaching the woman's AT-field.

"SHINJI!" Yui screamed.

Another flare of plasma though this time Soren did not bother to dodge. The light from the blast mingled with the prismatic field surrounding Soren, scorching the corridor but leaving the German completely untouched. Soren thrust forward, feeling no resistance at all as he crossed the boundary and scored another touch upon Yui. The conclusion was blindingly obvious, even with access to all the power of a S2 organ Yui had a definite limit to how much power she could draw upon at any given time. That simplified Soren's own timing considerably.

"Aramaki, detonate on my mark," Soren ordered.

"Hang on!" the man snapped back. "The C-4 just got down here!"

"You have time," Soren said, dodging another punch and slashing back, this time feeling the AT-field as he breached it and sank his blade into the body-core. Yui made to grab the blade but Soren pulled back quickly. "Some."

Soren narrowly avoided another lunge, stepping aside as Yui smashed into the corridor wall. A very noticeable dent was left as she recovered.

"The Angel's descent is normalizing," Maya said. "It looks like it's having trouble trying to adjust its trajectory."

"Finally some good news," Misato said. "Is the prediction of its core location still accurate?"

"Yes ma'am," Maya confirmed.

"Good. Hyuga, step down the cannon to 70%. We don't need to breach the field, we just want to put pressure on it so we're going to maximum fire."

"We're going to need to step it down to 50% for that ma'am," the operator said apologetically. "Too many of the cannon's systems got fried from the overcharged shot."

Misato grimaced but nodded. "The best you can do is the best you can do. Continuous fire, don't wait for followup orders."

The man's fingers were already dancing across the keyboard. "Aye ma'am."

Misato did not even bother paying attention to the resumed bombardment, instead turning to Maya. "How many portable positron cannons do we have?"

"Just the one ma'am," Maya said. "The second one is still under construction and won't be ready for another month."

"Tch. Deploy the one we have to Rei."

"Yes ma'am."

"Rei, listen up," Misato said into the radio. "We're pretty certain that we're not going to be able to crack that AT-field until it's pretty much right on top of us but if we do get lucky, I want you ready to take the shot. If you need to move to catch the Angel, ditch the cannon."

"Understood."

"Ma'am, the Second Branch is reporting that the eyepieces are coming into range," Aoba said.

Misato nodded. "Wish them luck. Hopefully we'll both still be around to trade stories after all this is over."

"Yes ma'am."

The seconds ticked away until another shot from the cannon lashed out at the Angel. As before the beam splashed harmlessly against the AT-field but if the cheers from the women Amanda was overseeing was any indication at least Soren was seeing some benefit from them burning through the country's electricity.

"Descent still stable?"

"Yes ma'am," Maya said.

"Are we detecting any fluctuations at all when we hit it?" Misato asked her friend.

"Some," Ritsuko said, putting her unhappiness aside to try to at least give the major's insane plan some kind of chance. "The fluctuations seem to be becoming more severe with every shot, but the increase isn't enough to suggest we could breach the field before it makes impact."

"Damn," Misato muttered. "Asuka, Shinji, do either of you think you could go supersonic again?"

"No sweat," Asuka replied immediately.

"Umm, I have no idea how we did it last time," Shinji said truthfully.

"Baka Shinji, when a superior officer asks you to do something, your response should be 'right away sir!'" Asuka admonished. "Or I suppose ma'am in this case."

"Asuka, try to take this a bit more seriously," Misato said. "If you can't pull off that speed again you could be well short of the target zone when you run out of power, which means without your AT-field you will die when the Angel impacts."

"Don't worry Misato," Asuka said, still sounding brimming with confidence. "That bastard's not laying a hand on my city. Either of my cities."

That elicited a slight smile from Misato. There were times when Asuka could be too overconfident, too cocksure, and just too reckless. There were also times when Asuka would not take no for an answer and seemed hellbent on breaking the very laws of reality to achieve her goal. This was sounding more and more like the latter case and Misato felt just a bit better about their chances of seeing all this through. The girl was not perfect, not by a long shot, but the perfection that she demanded from herself was close enough when it counted.

"Misato," Amanda suddenly said, drawing the major's attention. "Aramaki's finished setting the C-4," the finally went unvocalized, "and Soren is drawing the target towards the target zone. We should try to synchronize the attack, hit both at the same time and see if that will be enough to breach their defenses."

"Alright. Hyuga, hold off on further cannon strikes."

"Aye ma'am."

"Rei, acquire target but hold fire until I give the order."

The feed of Unit 00 already pointing her positron cannon skyward indicated the order was somewhat redundant but Rei responded dutifully as ever. "Acknowledged."

"Soren, status?" Misato asked.

A very loud crack sounded followed by the heavy thumping of boots. "Katana snapped. She seems extremely peeved."

"How long before-"

"Detonate moment she's in KZ," Soren said, preempting Misato's question. "Time attack with Aramaki. Going silent."

"Soren!" Misato began. "Goddamn idiot, is he trying to get killed down there!?"

"Aramaki, we need a countdown from you," Amanda said.

"I make it twenty seconds," the captain said. "Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen…"

"Fire positron cannon at three seconds," Misato directed. "Rei, fire at five."

All eyes were locked on the feeds, one fading in and out of Soren running through the corridors with a visibly struggling woman chasing after him and another the winged eye of Sahaquiel plummeting towards them.

"-nine, eight, seven, six, five-"

The positron cannon mounted on Unit 00 roared and the sphere of positrons shot into the sky.

"-four, three-"

The Yashima cannon bellowed, punching through the air its own beam.

"-one, mark!"

The command deck rumbled with a slight vibration, the explosion near the EVA cage rippling through the base before reaching them. The shaking was slight enough that no one was at risk of toppling even with all of their attention fixed on the now convulsing Angel. Sahaquiel shuddered, the humanoid torso twisting and jerking before freezing dead still as the positron beam cut clean through its center. Cheers erupted across the command deck.

"Hit!" Hyuga cried out.

The feed stabilized, briefly showing a bleeding core with a huge chunk torn out of it. Then Rei's shot arrived and consumed the core in a blinding light.

"Kill!" Aoba shouted. "Pattern blue field gone!"

The roar that swept the room easily surpassed the cries that came before and thundered on and on as the staff of NERV registered their victory. The Tenth Angel had seemed an implacable foe, striking at targets worldwide even as it threatened HQ with annihilation from both within and without. Now it was a red mist in the sky already starting to dissipate.

"Status on the Second Branch!?" Misato cried over all the din.

"The remaining eyepieces are dissipating!" Hyuga shouted back. "The Americans stopped those that were about to hit!"

"And Soren!?"

That question cut through the celebrations and those present were reminded of another person that was in the line of fire. The room quieted as all attention fell upon Amanda. The woman was leaning over a console, one hand pressed against her earpiece.

"Soren, do you read?"

"Fireteams down here now!" Aramaki shouted over the radio. "We need to get this blaze under control!"

Misato's eyes widened though Amanda's remained focused. "Soren, respond if you hear me."

Static hissed interrupted by brief snippets as response teams rushed to the explosion site. With every passing second the concern rose amongst all that waited. For one in particular something else was rising.

"You goddamn idiot, respond already!" Amanda shouted, her rage flaring and causing those about her to cringe. "You asshole, you're the one that went after that bitch and I went along with it because I knew you'd make it out! So stop laying on your ass and respond damn it!"

The crackle that came next might easily have been mistaken for more static but the grating was wrong, to loud and sharp to be that of noise in the EM spectrum. Then something thudded and a cough cut through loud and clear.

"This is Reimer. Someone please get my wife off the radio before I become deaf."

The relief that now flooded those waiting men and women saw quite a few sink to their knees. Others began cheering or clapping. Hugs were exchanged and even a few kisses and amongst it all Amanda took but three seconds to recover and start screaming that her husband was an idiot. Misato wiped the tears away before charging over and tackling her friend. Amanda cried out in surprise, almost toppling over and then proceeding to scream at Misato instead. That somehow became an open invitation for Satsuki to glomp onto the pair followed quickly by Kaede and Aoi. Back down in the wrecked corridor Soren breathed a sigh of relief. He loved that woman, he really did, but gods there were times.

"You did marry her," Aramaki said, patting the man on the shoulder.

"That I did," Soren agreed. "That I did."

* * *

The next that Misato saw of Soren the man had cleaned up and somehow found a spare suit to change into. He also showed up on the command deck on his own, the first warning that that was his intended destination being the small elevator rising with Soren standing in it. As he stepped out all present turned about to regard him.

"Oberst Katsuragi," Soren said formally. "You wished to speak with me at my earliest convenience."

Misato glanced at Amanda who promptly walked over, slapped Soren, and planted a firm kiss on his lips.

"Don't you EVER do that to me again," she said.

"Duly noted dear," Soren said dryly and looked over at the command staff.

Quite a few were smiling and more than one had blushes on their faces. Even Ritsuko seemed willing to simply enjoy the moment seeing the lack of a scowl on her face.

"That I did," Misato said, grinning widely. "Well Soren, care to tell me what your real job is? I mean, I'm pretty sure guns akimbo and kendo are not requirements for a concert master."

Someone was not quite able to suppress a snicker and tried vainly to cover it up with a cough. Soren simply favored Misato with a slight smile before responding.

"Flexibility and endurance are useful traits to have though," the German said.

This time Misato herself chuckled though hers was more rueful.

"Let's set aside the wisecracks for now," the woman said. "Your cover's been blown pretty spectacularly what with you ordering us around and taking that thing on by yourself. I presume you have some answer that will at least somewhat satisfy us?"

"That will be up to you," Soren said as he projected his voice as his gaze swept the assembled. "I am Oberst Soren Reimer, Inspector-General of the United Nations International Project Evangelion Agency tasked with ensuring the operational readiness of all Evangelion pilots."

There was a very noticeable intake of breath by many of those present. The IPEA was a somewhat nebulous organization under the auspicious of the UN whose official purpose was less than clearcut. Officially it served to oversee the usage of Evangelions and EVA technology by NERV, that oversight apparently distinct from what members of the UN Inspectorate like one Auditor-General Amanda Sommer provided. Until this day as far as HQ's rank and file was concerned, the IPEA did not even have a presence at NERV-Tokyo. Now they were finding out that not only had an IPEA operative been in the city for months, he was a high ranking one whose duty was to look out for the pilots. That he seemed so lethally competent at his job was both surprising and frightening to say the least.

"Inspector-General," Misato chewed over those words. "If I recall correctly there are only three Inspector-Generals in the IPEA's organization chart, all right under the UN Committee for Human Instrumentality."

Out of the corner of his eye Soren noticed Ritsuko flinching visibly. There was a very evident look of fear in the woman's eye, not at all surprising considering what she knew. Misato on the other hand was still just being indoctrinated into NERV's inner secrets and so knew fewer things to fear. Even so Soren doubted the steelhearted woman would waver as easily. Soren stepped toward the consoles and looked out at the operators present.

"For the last fifteen years humanity has been engaged in a war for its very survival," Soren said, raising his voice to let it carry across the entire chamber. "Fifteen years in which we clawed our way back from the near extinction that was Second Impact. NERV has been at the frontline of that war, a war that turned from cold to hot July of this year with the appearance of the Third Angel Sachiel. Since then seven more Angels have appeared, each seeking to finish what the Adams began in Antarctica. Eight times humanity has emerged victorious, eight times in which the pilots met those abominations in battle and triumphed. They did not triumph alone however as every battle they entered, they had all of you standing with them. My responsibility is to ensure the operational readiness of the pilots, but quite frankly I do very little." Soren shrugged. "I taught Asuka how to play the violin." He glanced at Misato. "I taught Shinji how to cook."

More than one person could not quite suppress their smirk while the woman herself flushed and glared at Soren. The glare did not last.

Soren extended a hand and waved at those around him. "You, all of you, not I, are the ones that actually make sure the pilots can fight." The edge of Soren's mouth perked up ever so slightly. "You have carried out your duties in exemplary fashion and I have every expectation that you will continue to do so until humanity stands triumphant against the last Angel. I intend to be there to see that day. I know that I will not be alone in bearing witness to our final victory. To humanity, and a new dawn!"

The roar that answered Soren was deafening as Misato heard cries and cheers coming over the internal radio. Someone, she was not sure whom, had piped Soren's little speech throughout the base. Looking at the man's back, she saw a firmness of stature that belayed a great strength of will. In the eyes that glanced back at her she caught sight of a conviction that eclipsed even that of Amanda's. A chill ran down her back. There was still something she did not know, something that drove her best friends on their mission. And when she found out what it was, Misato was certain she would not like what that something was.

* * *

All the cheering and whatnot had died down by the time the EVAs were locked their respective cages, though it took a bit longer for Unit 01 to get parked than the others thanks to the somewhat battered nature of its cage. By the time Shinji got out Asuka and Rei were already waiting, or at least that was what it looked like. As he got closer Shinji found the two girls were actually facing one another with quite a few technicians standing about watching. Shinji frowned, moving to join the crowd but hanging just out of sight of the redhead.

"Your shot was the one that actually killed the Angel," Asuka said just as Shinji came within earshot.

Rei merely nodded in the affirmative.

"Right," Asuka said with a sigh. "That was bleeding obvious, wasn't it. Okay let's try this again."

The redhead stepped towards Rei and extended a hand. The other girl looked down in confusion before looking back up at Asuka.

"That Angel tried to hit my home, Berlin," Asuka said. "Hell, it was also trying to flatten my home here in Tokyo-3. But you stopped it."

The nod this time was more hesitant and confused. Asuka sighed again.

"What I'm trying to say is, thank you."

Rei's eyes widened, a reaction mirrored by Shinji as he stood behind Asuka. But then a smile appeared on his face without him even realizing it. Rei seemed to take her cue from him and smiled slightly as well. She brought up her own hand and took Asuka's.

"You are welcome, Asuka-san."

The redhead smiled, hers wider and brighter. It only grew brighter as a gentle applause filled the chamber.

* * *

A great deal of work remained to be done in the aftermath of Sahaquiel's attack, damage needed to be assessed and repairs conducted where necessary. Everything had an order to it however and high on Misato's list was clarifying just what Soren would be doing from now on. As a consequence NERV's section heads, senior command staff, Amanda, Kaji, and for some reason Dr. Hayashima were all seated around the conference table. Misato was not quite clear on why the psychiatrist was present though she was fairly certain she would find out soon. Soren was also present but instead of sitting with his wife he took the seat normally occupied by Commander Ikari. The German's pose was more relaxed than Ikari's would have been, leaning back into his chair with leg crossed.

"So, this mean you're in charge here?" Misato said with amusement.

"I am the ranking officer present," Soren said with a shrug. "As IPEA Inspector-General my authority trumps that of a NERV section head and is equivalent with that of a branch vice-commander."

"Is it?" Ritsuko said with a bare hint of suspicion. "I've never seen an organization chart for both NERV and the IPEA."

Soren pulled out his smartphone and tapped away at it for several seconds. The moment he put his down Ritsuko's PDA beeped. She raised an eyebrow and opened the newly arrived message. With a grimace she shook her head and held up her hands, conceding the point.

"So does this mean you'll be getting an office down here and sitting in on the meetings?" Misato asked.

"Heavens no," Soren said. "My wife is already down here for all that, no reason for both of us to waste our time."

A pen went flying toward his head but a quick flick of his hand caught it and Soren slid the offending implement back toward Amanda.

"I am merely here today to clarify something. First, my position as Inspector-General is on a need to know basis. Those personnel permanently assigned to NERV-Tokyo may be made aware of my responsibilities but it is to go no further, not even to the other branches. The pilots are also not to become aware of this. Am I clear?"

Nods all around, which Soren returned before his eyes fell on one person present in particular.

"Good. Now onto the next matter. The intrusion by the pattern orange entity, provisionally designated Alpha-Orange, is now classified and under the jurisdiction of the IPEA. You are not to speak of this or any of the previous incidences without direct authorization from myself or IPEA authorities of equivalent or greater rank."

All this was said with Soren's gaze fixed on Ritsuko. The doctor shifted uncomfortably, knowing full well what her old friend was insinuating. Fortunately there were others to vocalize it for her.

"Does this mean we are also to not discuss this with Commander Ikari?"

"Correct, Oberleutnant Aoba," Soren said, glancing at the operator for a brief moment. "The commander does not have the appropriate authorization nor the need to know about the details of this matter."

Quite a few of the assembled men and women looked incredulously at Soren. The former might have been true, none of them were quite clear on the legal precedent for the assertion, but the latter seemed downright nonsensical. At this point Alpha-Orange had invaded Tokyo-3 three times now, managing to breach the Geofront itself twice and the last time doing so in concert with an Angel. Seeing as responsibility for NERV-Tokyo ultimately fell to Commander Ikari, one could argue quite strongly that he _did_ have a need to know about this entity.

"Excuse me sir," Hyuga said, "but, that order doesn't make any sense."

Soren's eyes fell upon the man and Hyuga felt himself tense. There was nothing particularly intimidating about the gaze but simply having the German look upon one was unnerving somehow.

"At first glance I imagine the order does not make any sense," Soren agreed to their surprise. "We of the IPEA however have reason to believe that Commander Ikari is not entirely, rationale, about Alpha-Orange. Case in point, he ordered its capture alive when it breached the medical wing and attempted to reach the Third Child, despite witnessing it taking down several of his security operatives, and thus endangering his own son in the process. Ignoring his apparent lack of paternal qualities, his placing of an EVA pilot in danger for some personal objective is unacceptable."

Soren's voice hardened noticeably at that last bit and quite a few of the people present found themselves in agreement with the German. Quite a few, but not all.

"Are you certain that you are not letting the danger to the pilots become a personal matter yourself?" Ritsuko said. "After all, you basically helped raise Pilot Shikinami and you have been actively involving yourself with Pilot Ikari."

More than one person gave the doctor a dirty look despite understanding the validity of the point. It just went to show the difference in how the two men fostered relations, both professional and personal.

"There are very few individuals whom are genuinely not expendable for NERV, or rather for humanity at large," Soren stated. "You, Dr. Akagi, are one due to your unparalleled expertise in the EVA technology. By that same measure your assistant Dr. Ibuki is of a similar level of importance."

Maya's eyes widened and she looked about in bewilderment at being so mentioned. A calming smile from Aramaki however settled her down.

"At the same measure the EVAs would be useless without their pilots, meaning that the safety and wellbeing of the pilots are also of paramount importance. Commander Ikari's contributions in comparison, are inconsequential. His personal ambitions are therefore of equal irrelevance. If he cannot prioritize the needs of humanity over his own, then he will be replaced." Soren's eyes now wandered over to Misato. "There are many who are qualified to carry the responsibilities of NERV commander after all, and likely perform them more competently and dutifully."

This time it was the major's turn to flush slightly even as she mentally screamed at Soren. This was politics at a level way above her paygrade that her friends were about to drag her into.

"Do you, actually have the authority to do that?" Hyuga blurted out, more a reflex of his surprise than a conscious act if his own consernation was any indication.

"Of course not," Soren said. "I do however expect the Committee to take very seriously any recommendation I forward to them, providing of course my conclusions are backed by others onsite."

A few glances were snuck at Amanda, who ignored them.

"I've already deleted the relevant records from the MAGI," Soren said, eliciting more looks of surprise from those assembled. "I trust I can rely upon the discretion of those present?"

This time Soren paid no heed to Ritsuko, instead glancing at the three women seated as a cluster on the far side of the table. The smile he gave them was devoid of any malice and was in fact quite disarming. All three found it impossible to not smile back before a very loud stage cough caused them to jump. Amanda's glare however was reserved for her husband.

"That concludes what I needed to discuss with all of you. Are there any further questions?"

The others exchanged glances but only shakes of their heads answered Soren.

"Very well." The German adjusted his suit and stood. "Ladies and gentlemen, I trust that all of you will continue your exemplary service to NERV and to humanity."

Soren saluted and instinctively the others stood, quite a few returning it.

"Dr. Hayashima, if I could have a word with you," Soren said as he headed towards the exit."

"Yes colonel," Hayashima said, pushing herself away from the table and following quickly.

Once the door closed Amanda cleared her throat again, drawing everyone's attention back to the meeting.

"Alright, let's get the other things out of the way since we're all here," she said. "Lieutenant Aoba, the reports from the other branches if you would."

"Yes ma'am. Of the other three branches, only the Second Branch was actually attacked. The Americans deployed significant assets to intercept the eyepieces and were able to break up all of them before they entered range of the base's defenses. Two fragments managed to make landfall, one was intercepted by Lieutenant Vincennes and the other was small enough that only minor damage was incurred."

"And how well did Unit 04 perform?" Amanda asked.

"Well enough," Ritsuko said. "Its power system was not ready yet but the Americans were able to cobble together a feed that allowed the EVA to function. Doing so however required that they rip out the interconnects for the prototype S2 engine, which is going to delay its activation test."

"About what we expected," Amanda said. "What about Unit 05?"

"There were no problems," Maya answered. "According to the telemetry forwarded to us by the Third Branch, Makinami-san had no problems with activating her EVA or projecting an AT-field. Unit 05 itself did not display any anomalies and NERV-Berlin believes that it is ready for operational deployment. They would like to discuss transferring it to HQ."

Surprised but pleased rumblings rippled around the table and Amanda nodded approvingly. "That's very good news. I trust we'll be ready to receive it once it gets here?"

"So long as we're not sending it by boat again," Misato said with a wiry smile.

"I think I can convince the UN to spring for the air tankers we'd need to fly it over with an EVA carrier," Amanda said, then frowned. "With Unit 05 we'll have four operational EVAs here in Tokyo-3. Hmm."

"You thinking of the Vatican Treaty?" Misato asked. "I thought that limit was lifted when active hostilities with the Angels began."

"Yes and no," Amanda said. "The only exception to the three EVA limit is when Angels are actively attacking, yes, but it also requires the approval of the IPEA. Fortunately Soren has the authority to provisionally grant us the exception until such time as the committee can formalize it."

"Ah, well that's handy," Misato said.

"Quite, though we're going to want to get that formal exception before even more EVAs arrive," Amanda said. "Once Units 03 and 04 also show up we'll have six EVAs total. With that many we'll need to rethink our tactical deployment."

"Two fireteams of three," Misato said. "That makes the most sense."

"Alright, so who leads each fireteam?" Amanda asked, though her smile indicated she knew at least part of the answer.

"Asuka definitely for one of them," Misato said. "Of the three pilots that have any experience only she and Rei had any formal training before all this hit."

Grunts and nods of agreement all around, some firmer than others.

"Rei's not what I'd call a natural leader either," the major continued. "She's a good soldier, follows orders and carries out her duty, but she sometimes lacks initiative."

"Alright, Asuka for one," said Amanda. "Looks like she might just get that promotion after all. And the other?"

Misato grunted but answered the question instead of adding further commentary. "It'd have to be Mari or Maria for much the same reason. I'm actually inclined to go with Maria actually."

"Why," Amanda asked, not a challenge but simply to understand the other woman's reasoning.

"Mari can get, a bit too enthusiastic about fighting. She's good, there's no doubt about that, I'd say she's almost as good as Asuka, but she doesn't always take into account the big picture. I've never met Maria in person, but what I've read so far indicates she's also highly competent and has a level head. Minus her giant ego that is, but anyone who's going to have to work with Asuka as an equal is going to need to be able to stand up to her."

"Fair enough," Amanda said. "And unit composition?"

"Asuka, Rei, and Shinji in one team," Misato said immediately. "Maria, Mari, and whoever is selected to pilot Unit 03 on the other."

"Makes sense." Amanda looked about. "Anyone else have any suggestions while we're all here?"

The other staffers seemed surprised at having their opinion solicited and quite a few shook their heads. From their dazed looks the three second-tier bridge operators were feeling especially out of their depths.

"Well, if anything does occur to any of you, don't be afraid to bring them up with your section head or myself," Amanda said. "As that idiot of a husband of mine said, NERV is made up all of you doing the actual work. If you see a problem, don't keep quiet about it. If you think things can be done better, speak up. We're all in this together after all."

Approving nods and smiles answered Amanda's little spiel as she concluded the meeting.

"Got a moment?" Misato said as they both exited.

"Sure. My office or yours?"

"Yours," Misato said, "for a nice quiet little chat."

Amanda raised an eyebrow but tilted her head slightly. "Alright."

The two women walked in relative silence until they reached Amanda's office. The auditor took a seat, reached under her desk, then nodded.

"I presume you want to continue our conversation from earlier?"

"Quite," Misato said as she settled into a seat. "I said I had more questions and after everything that's happened, I have even more."

"Ask away," Amanda said. "Just keep in mind that there are things I can't yet tell you yet."

"Not sure I'm happy with that," Misato said.

Amanda shrugged. "Some secrets you don't need to know and so you not knowing means you can't compromise them. Others, you need to be prepared for them. I promise I'll answer you the best I can, but just remember that there are limits."

"Fine, I suppose I'll have to settle for that for now," Misato said. "Alright, back to the questions I was going to ask before the Angel attacked. First one is, how exactly are you planning on neutralizing SEELE?"

"Kill them."

Misato snorted. "Of course. You know what I mean. If what you've hinted at is true, SEELE is huge. It's able to manipulate not only individual nation-states but also the UN. Killing them is going to create a power vacuum, one that will have major reprecussions."

"Quite," Amanda agreed. "And it's a problem that Mother has spent a lot of time considering."

Misato raised an eyebrow. "Mother?"

"Well we can't exactly refer to her by name all the time, can we? Anyway, Mother's put together a, succession plan. She's spent the last fifteen years or so maneuvering people we trust into positions that would allow them to assume power after SEELE's pawns are purged."

"That, sounds somewhat ominous, to be honest," Misato said. "In fact it almost makes it sound like your, Mother, is trying to take over the world."

"That's because in some ways she is," Amanda admitted openly. "The problem, as you have stated quite simply, is that SEELE's influence is pervasive. They've built up a network that holds sway worldwide and to break that network would result in a feeding frenzy by those left behind. At the same time SEELE is confident in their ability to achieve Instrumentality, which means they really have not planned for what happens after the war against the Angels ends. If we don't have a transitional plan in place we'll end up with a real World War III, one that'll get fought with weapons of mass destruction."

"And how long would this, transitional period, of yours take?"

"Ah, you misunderstand," Amanda said with a shake of her head. "There will be no transitional period. The plan is to execute the entire SEELE council plus their top tier pawns immediately along with a couple of the second tier that are simply too dangerous to leave alive. Everyone else will be arrested and charged with war crimes for their complicacy in Second Impact and the attempt to achieve Third Impact. None of the people who are being prepped to step into the vacuum left behind are part of the SEELE network. For the world to have any chance at not tearing itself apart afterward all of us that were actively involved in the Instrumentality Plan must be held to account for what we've done, without exception or clemency."

Misato's eyes had grown progressively wider with every word out of her friend's mouth. "You're talking about yourself and Soren too, aren't you?"

Amanda smiled and held her hands open. "I am the favored granddaughter of the leader of SEELE, Kiel Lorenz. If I am not complicit, then what measure of guilt could we ascribe to others?"

The major was silent for several moments, rubbing her hands and fidgeting incessantly as she tried to think of something to say. Finally she gave up, stood up, and walked over to give her friend a tight squeeze. Amanda patted Misato on the back with one arm while returning the hug with another. It was a small comfort but Amanda had long ago learned to appreciate even the smallest such gestures, especially after one life so devoid of such warmth.

* * *

Hayashima's office reflected her diligent and organized nature with everything neatly filed away and not a single scrap of loose paper cluttering her desk. It was all quite impressive, until one found out that Hayashima had a photographic memory and so did not actually need any of the documents and case files neatly stashed away. In all likelihood she only ever pulled them out when someone else wanted to see them.

"Please have a seat," Hayashima invited as she took her own. She waited until Soren did so. "What did you wish to discuss, Colonel Reimer?"

Not that the question was at all necessary but there were appearances to maintain.

"I would like your analysis of the First Child's psychological state," Soren stated.

Hayashima took off her glasses and began wiping them. "I'm afraid I don't have much. My access to Ayanami Rei has been severely restricted by Commander Ikari."

"And so you have no basis with which to form an opinion on her suitability to pilot an EVA."

"Not entirely," Hayashima said, putting her glasses back on. "Based on her conduct on the various deployments she seems willing and determined to carry out her mission. She works well with the other pilots and watches out for them in combat. What her limits are however, I do not know."

"I see," Soren said as he took out his smartphone. He spent a few tapping at it. "Well, consider your access to Fraulein Ayanami granted. I want you to schedule a few counseling sessions with and report back to me. If Ikari gives you any difficulty with it, let me know."

"Of course colonel."

"Excellent. Now, what of Herr Ikari and Fraulein Langley?"

"Shikinami-san has not had any major problems since her arrival," Hayashima said. "Her mental state is relatively balanced and though she has endured considerable stress, her friends and loved ones, including yourself, Reimer-san, have managed to keep her from being overwhelmed. Shinji-kun, well, you must already be aware of the psychological shocks he's suffered."

Soren nodded.

"He's weathered them remarkably well and while it might be premature to claim that he has made a full recovery, at present he at least does not appear to be at risk of a relapse. This of course assumes that he suffers no additional shocks in the near future."

That both knew was wishful thinking especially once Unit 03 arrived. The collective had tried to maneuver things so as to cushion all of the Children once things really went to hell. Unfortunately the amount of control the collective could assert was painfully limited as already demonstrated by the Yamagishi scenario and then Shinji's little catatonic episode. Perhaps they might yet get something right with the Kirishima scenario. At the very least Soren was determined not to get another young woman killed.

"I see. Well, thank you for your frankness, doctor," Soren said as he stood.

Hayashima did so as well and began to bow when Soren extended his hand. She smiled slightly and accepted the firm shake.

"I look forward to working with you more closely, Dr. Hayashima, to ensuring the welfare of the Children."

"I as well, Colonel Reimer."

Left unsaid was the promise that handshake represented, one that had been agreed to in the real conversation the two had held.

* * *

"Well that was a close call," Klinge said. "I was almost afraid we had let yet another score bleed over into this one."

Amanda growled. "The last thing we need is for anything from _that_ composition to leak through. The point is to limit collateral damage, not see to the slaughter of countless millions."

"We are all agreed on that," Soren said. "To that end, I need a better weapon. If Alpha-Orange shows up again I would prefer not to have to take her on with something as ineffectual as guns or explosives."

Quite a few present snorted seeing as those same 'ineffectual' explosives had turned a length of NERV's corridors into twisted scrap.

"I'll have R&amp;D put something together," Klinge said. "We have a couple of prototypes that should be of some use against Alpha-Orange."

"Good," Soren said and glanced at another woman present. "Madison, do you expect to remain on schedule?"

The woman in question nodded. "We'll be flying out from Berlin in about two weeks. In addition to Unit 05 I'll be bringing along a support team and a lot of new toys. You guys do have places where I can stash them, right?"

"The stuff related to Unit 05 you can store in the Geofront," Amanda said. "The IPEA stuff will go to the UN base."

"Roger that," Madison said, making a mental note. "And Mari?"

"Apartment next to Asuka and Rei's," Soren answered that one. "Provisionally once Maria arrives she'll also stay there."

Assuming of course they could figure out a way to avoid the S2 engine destroying the Second Branch and taking everyone there with it.

"Oh, we're not going to stick her in with Shinji?" Madison said with a mischievous grin.

"No," Amanda said very firmly.

"Shame." The grin somehow got wider.

Amanda muttered something inaudible though it sounded suspiciously like a plea for the patience of the divine.

"We still have other matters to deal with," Soren said. "Specifically, the Kirishima scenario. Are we ready?"

"Yes," Kayabuki said, her face of stony determination. "Yes, we're ready."

"The accident with the Trident is scheduled to happen tomorrow, which'll give me the opportunity to drop my little bombshell on Kaji," Amanda said. "From there I imagine it'll take the Japanese government a day or so to dither before they accede to our demands and then a week at most before the JSSDF gets desperate and tries something stupid. From there we can extract Mana, her friends, and shut down the program."

"Will their asylum claims be ready?" Soren asked.

"They're on my desk and forward dated," Klinge assured her protégé. "You'd be amazed at how many of my subordinates want to see us pull this off, a lot of them seem to take personal affront at what the JSSDF is doing with those kids."

"And the Minister of Justice?"

"Julian was, apoplectic after hearing about this," Klinge said with a beatific smile. "They ended up calling in Katerose to talk him out of issuing an open condemnation of the Japanese government's conduct."

Both Amanda and Soren raised eyebrows at that. Katerose von Kreutzer was, like her niece, not known for her calm and reserved composure. In fact some claimed that when she was Asuka's age Katerose was even fiercer, something that Amanda could not quite dispute. Julian Mintz on the other hand was generally regarded a fair and levelheaded man that had a firm sense of justice, qualities that served him well as Germany's youngest ever justice minister.

"I suppose the diplomatic front is dealt with then," Soren said. "The remaining issues are how much Ikari will attempt to interfere to get back at us and just how far the JSSDF will go to try to silence Mana."

"So long as she's within the city limits they won't be able to strike directly," Kayabuki said. "Hell, even if she's outside so long as she stays within fifty kilometers of the city she'll still be within UN jurisdiction and I can turn out the regiment to protect her if I have to."

"Will your troops be willing to fire on their former compatriots?" Amanda asked.

"To protect an innocent little girl from being mowed down? Without a doubt. The bigger problem'll be restraining them when they find out it's the JSSDF doing it."

"Good enough," said Amanda. "Now, if there isn't anything else Soren and I have a meeting with Grandfather."

* * *

"The attacks are escalating," SEELE 02 said. "The Angels were never meant to strike anywhere save Tokyo-3."

It was so hard, so very hard, not to roll her eyes as Amanda sat before the council. Soren was likely facing similar hardship putting up with these old men's ramblings.

"Too much has deviated from the scenario," SEELE 08 grumbled.

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the chamber. This time Amanda allowed herself to frown. Soren however beat her to it.

"And how much greater would the deviation have been if we were not present?" the German asked bluntly. "What would have happened if Berlin, Cambridge, or Groom Lake were destroyed because the Angel and Alpha-Orange got what they wanted?"

"We would have made do with the EVAs we already possess, but that is irrelevant," SEELE 01 responded almost immediately. "We cannot dwell upon the what-ifs after all."

Amanda tilted her head. She wondered if this increased flexibility in her grandfather might yet come back and bite them.

"We are here today to discuss this Alpha-Orange," Kiel continued, "and how to permanently neutralize it. Three times now it has intruded upon our domain and twice its defeat should have been decisive. Yet death seems no bounds for this creature, it exhibits powers rightfully that of the gods, and seeks to impede our own ascension."

"Based off of the available data there are distinct similiarities with our own EVA technology, but also many things that should be impossible," SEELE 07 said. "Tell us, Colonel, you have now fought this Alpha-Orange three times. What do you think it to be?"

"I think a fundamental mistake has been made about what an EVA core is," Soren stated. "There seems little other explanation for why I have engaged Yui Ikari three times now."

"And what mistake could we have made?" SEELE 04 demanded. "The principles used to construct them came straight from the Dead Sea Scrolls. There can be no mistake."

Count on the American to be dogmatic, Amanda thought with a dismissive snort.

"We are faced with a problem," Soren stated simply. "I intend to seek a solution. If the committee does not wish to acknowledge the existence of the problem, then I at least ask that you not interfere with my resolution of it."

"You will have our support in your seeking of a resolution," SEELE 01 said before any of the others could. "This matter must be treated with the seriousness it deigns. If Yui Ikari is somehow reaching from beyond the EVA to act against us, we must limit the impact of her actions. Unit 01 is too important to attempt to restrain with more direct measures."

"This raises the question of what we are to do about Gendo Ikari," Amanda said. "Upon his return he will almost certainly attempt to gain more information about Alpha-Orange. He may even seek to actively interfere with our plans to force a disclosure."

"If he does so eliminate him," SEELE 07 said. "We have no further use for the commander."

Amanda and Soren exchanged looks.

"Are you certain?" Amanda asked. "If Soren puts a bullet in his head, there will be no going back."

"We are," SEELE 01 stated. "Your cultivation of Colonel Katsuragi has progressed to the point where she would be an acceptable stand-in. Dr. Akagi may not be as cooperative, but there is still time for you to recruit her. Otherwise Dr. Ibuki will have to suffice."

The two looked at each other once more but Amanda simply shrugged. Removing the elder Ikari was always part of their overall plan, the question had always been of opportunity. If SEELE was prepared to give them sanction for the move however, it really only fell to timing. Soren looked up at the monolith with SEELE 01 on it and nodded.

"As you will."

End of Chapter 19

Got this chapter out a bit faster than I was expecting.

I've read Shinji and 40K. It's a good read, lots of over the top fun that stretches the boundaries of realism considerably more than what I've done. None of which really detracted from my enjoyment of the story, though a few things did nag at me. One was when the author put in a snippet about using submarines as spaceships. At first glance that might seem like a realistic idea, submarines are airtight pressurized vessels for example. Reality is a bit more complicated, specifically submarines are designed to withstand considerable pressures from outside trying to crush it. In space however the problem is reserved. The hull of a spaceship needs to be able to withstand its own internal pressure versus the lack of said pressure on the outside. Hull designs are not symmetrical like that. Anyway, that's just a minor gripe on my part, the story is otherwise quite enjoyable.

Now in case the above has not already confirmed it, I did draw some inspiration from Sahaquiel's attack from Shinji and 40K. There are obviously some differences, Berlin survived for one. And as Amanda stated ever so bluntly, the goal of the sidesteppers is to minimize collateral damage. Letting Berlin get plastered would not have been conducive to that goal. I'll let you guys draw any additional inferences you want from the sidestepper's conversation on your own.

As one reviewer has pointed out, the rank of second lieutenant really is at the bottom of the pile. And again, that was intentional. While I do not ascribe to the notion that the pilots holding commissioned rank, air force style, to be completely unbelievable or that unrealistic especially in the post-Second Impact world, I do recognize that they are kids and they'll need more seasoning before they can be trusted with ranks of genuine authority. Keep in mind that in this continuity Misato only just made major and has a simulated rank of colonel. As should also be evident though, Asuka's about to become a first lieutenant due to the force organization. I think I've achieved a decent balance in progression for them, though I recognize that not everyone will agree with that.

Maria, ah yes Maria. I recognize that her obscurity will mean almost no one will really relate to her. I suppose it'll be a test for me to see if I can turn her into a character with some depth. We'll see.

Soren. Heh. I don't think I'll say much about that. Some might find this twist a bit hard to swallow, but in all seriousness, if you guys weren't expecting him to have some sort of fallback position, I have not been doing a very good job foreshadowing.

So this chapter we get a bit more from Amanda about what the sidesteppers are up to. And as for the sidesteppers themselves, I don't think I've been that opaque about who they are. I have been opaque about 'what' they are, that's entirely intentionally, but in all seriousness, every single sidestepper that's been introduced so far should be fairly easily guessable. There's even a list of who's who in one of the reviews that's up to date up to the chapter it was submitted for. If you cannot figure out who is who, I'd suggest referring to that list and seeing what pattern there is. And as for 'what' they are, that's a major element of the plot that you're supposed to wonder about. I'm thinking we're about three chapters away from more information about that.

Anyway, drop me a review about what you all think.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Cambiare

The dynamics in the Katsuragi and Ayanami/Shikinami households were evolving, an expected outcome seeing the disruption Shinji's melancholy had caused to the routines of all the residents. The newly arrived at arrangement saw Asuka and Rei alternate between making breakfast for everyone while Shinji handled dinner and lunch, though it would be more accurate to say that the trio simply took advantage of the leftovers from the night before for lunches the following day.

Of course as the day ended the girls always went back to their place for bed and bath and woe onto any man that walked in uninvited or without warning. Seeing as the entire building was more or less theirs, minus a few rooms where Section-2 details camped out, there was little risk of that so Asuka had begun treating her and Rei's place with a more laid back casualness. Thus it was with a nonchalant attitude that the girl poked her head out of the bathroom at hearing the distant rumbling. Once convinced it was not just her imagination, Asuka walked out and stared out the balcony door. In the distance was a rising fume of smoke, the source of which she could not quite discern.

"An explosion?" she wondered aloud.

The girl was still staring away when Rei entered the living room only to be greeted by a full on candid view of the redhead's backside. She tilted her head in slight confusion.

"Was it not considered inappropriate to wander the apartment without clothes on?" the girl asked.

Asuka spun around, her face flushed at being caught out like this.

"Of course it is!" she snapped. "I just wanted to take a quick peek because I thought I heard something?"

"So there are situations where such a state of undress is acceptable?"

"No! I mean, maybe in emergencies, but you should still try to find something to cover yourself with!"

Rei continued to look on in confusion. "Does satisfying your curiosity constitute an emergency?"

"No! I mean, it sounded like an explosion so it might have been an emergency?"

At this Rei nodded. "Then it is acceptable to not wear clothing when investigating sources of potential threats."

At this point Asuka was ready to start tearing at her hair. She settled for a cry of frustration that caused Rei to look puzzled once more. In the midst of all this it took the girl quite some time to realize that she had remained uncovered for the entire duration of her lecture to Rei.

* * *

Kaji's head poked into the office. "Yo, you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes," Amanda said, looking up. "Have a seat, this could take a while."

"I am yours to command," the man said blithely as he sat down.

Amanda regarded Kaji levelly. "Back in Berlin we once talked about the usage of children as EVA pilots. Do you remember what I said?"

"You said it was monstrous," Kaji said with a wiry smile. "And I agreed with you. Still do for that matter."

Amanda nodded. "Well, now you get to prove you really meant that."

The man frowned. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Amanda began, "that you get to prove which is more important to you. Your sense of justice or your loyalty to your country, Special Agent Ryoji Kaji of the Japanese Ministry of Home Affairs."

To his credit Kaji neither denied the statement nor spent much time being surprised.

"So who else besides you know about my moonlighting?" he asked with a grin.

"Everyone you've been spying on and for," Amanda stated bluntly.

"Well, well, I'm obviously not doing a good enough job maintaining my cover."

"Oh don't worry, the UN Inspectorate still thinks that you're mostly their man." Amanda presented the man with a folder. "What do you know about the T-RIDEN-T project?"

Kaji frowned. "I've heard the name, but I can't say I know much about it."

"It's supposed to be a next generation combat walker capable of operating on land, air, and sea, hence the tri part," Amanda said. "Nothing really wrong with that, a lot of nations have continued developing new weapons systems since Second Impact. The pilots on the other hand are extremely questionable."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."

"Page sixty-three."

Kaji flipped to it quickly and spent a few moments perusing the contents. The grimace grew more and more on his face.

"Child soldiers," he said as he finished reading.

"The pilot trainees the JSSDF are using are all under the age of fifteen and the employment of children that young is forbidden under Article 38 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and is treated as a war crime by Article 8 of the ICC Rome Statute. NERV gets away with it because there is an explicit exception written into its charter by the UN due to the extraordinary threat presented by the Angels and the simple fact that the only ones capable of piloting EVAs are the children we have. The JSSDF, and the Japanese government, has no such excuse."

Kaji was silent for several moments as he thought all this over. "I am not defending the Japanese government, but is there any actual incident where the Japanese government deployed these children?"

"Yes, and no. First of all, were you around for the excitement last night?"

The man shook his head. "I had a busy day and turned in early. No one called me either on my emergency line."

"There was an accident in the mountains outside Tokyo-3," Amanda stated. "One of the Tridents was out on a training exercise and ran into problems. It fell a considerable distance, damaging itself and severely wounding the pilot."

Kaji's eyes narrowed. "Where's the pilot now?"

"In UN custody," Amanda said. "I had him moved to the military hospital next to the city."

"I see. And what about the Trident itself?"

"Still out there. We haven't had time to move it yet, that damn thing's huge."

Kaji tapped the armrest. "How far from the city was this?"

"Twenty kilometers out," Amanda answered, "so yes, it falls within UN jurisdiction."

The man frowned. "What was it doing so close to the city?"

"At a guess? The JSSDF was trying to see if they could sneak troops close in without us noticing. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for the pilot, we noticed."

"Seems rather gutsy of them," Kaji said.

"The current head of the JSSDF's a prick," was Amanda's succinct and blunt opinion.

Kaji chuckled but the humor did not last long on his face. "Alright, the JSSDF is having a child participate in combat drills. That is illegal, or at the very least stretching the bounds of legality, as far as international laws go. Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Amanda said, her expression hard as she presented Kaji with another packet. "This was a planned operation that they scrapped due to, changing circumstances. It was more of an intelligence gathering and reconnaissance operation, but it still falls within the purview of a military operation."

Kaji looked at the name atop the packet and frowned. As he flipped through the pages that frown quickly morphed into a scowl.

"Those sons of bitches."

"I think you might be slandering someone here," Amanda said.

"You're right," Kaji said. "At least the offspring of dogs have some sense of honor and decency."

Amanda chuckled humorlessly. "So, do you think you could deliver a little message for me, Special Agent Kaji?"

The man regarded his old friend for several moments, tapping his hand on the armrest. Finally he leaned forward and clasped his hands.

"We've known each other for a long time," Kaji said. "All the way back at university, where you once told me not to take Katsuragi for granted. I didn't listen back then and I'm paying for it now."

"And yet you seem to be making progress," Amanda noted. "What's this I hear about you and Misato going out drinking these past few weeks?"

Kaji grinned wirily. "Is there anything that doesn't escape you?"

"I am NERV's auditor-general," Amanda responded with her own smile. "It's my job to keep tabs on how everyone is doing."

The man nodded. "I suppose so. And that's the same reason you want me to deliver the message, isn't it? You're an auditor, not an inspector. Your remit is limited to just Tokyo-3, whereas I can go pretty much wherever I want, within some limits."

"That's right."

"You realize that if I officially investigate the Japanese government over this, my superiors at the Home Ministry will cut me off."

"Not if you give them something they want," Amanda said.

"Ah, so this will be some kind of give and take?"

"Quite, at least from the Home Ministry's perspective. They sent you to try to figure out if NERV was a threat to Japanese sovereignty, which to be frank just shows how little imagination they have. You on the other hand are ofter the truth."

Despite it all Kaji was still able to smile slightly. "You know me too well. So, what exactly is this truth that you think I want enough to risk splitting with the Home Ministry?"

Amanda placed a red keycard on the table before Kaji. "Reminds you of the color of blood, doesn't it?"

"I sometimes wonder if that was intentional," Kaji replied lightly.

"It was," Amanda said, causing Kaji to be taken aback, "but that's another matter. That, is a level 10 access card. It'll get you past any door within the Geofront. Usage of it is of course logged, but I'm sure establishing an aliba is not terribly difficult for someone like you."

Kaji's eyes narrowed as he picked up the card and looked it over. "And how do I know this won't send an alarm the moment I first try to use it?"

"Because, Herr Kaji, you trust me," Amanda said with her best smile. "And because you haven't been making any headway with your MAGI backdoor. Almost as if someone knew about it patched it since the Home Ministry originally discovered it."

Kaji's own face was a frozen mask now as he looked at Amanda. Then he looked back down at the card.

"You have an agenda," Kaji said, "one that I can only begin to guess at. Assuming this card is real, and I'm inclined to believe it to be, your agenda is apparently not put at risk, or at least the risk is manageable enough, by my possession of it."

Amanda tilted her head in acknowledgment of the point.

"We're friends, Amanda," Kaji said. "There are a lot of things I'm not sure about in this world, but I'd like to think that I am sure of that. Yet right now I can't help but feel a bit frightened at what might be at stake."

"Oh?"

"It's quite simple. What are you aiming for that giving me this is considered an acceptable risk?"

Amanda smiled and leaned forward. "Why don't you consider that an invitation to find out, Chief Inspector Kaji?"

Kaji nodded, pocketing the keycard. "So? What message specifically do you want me to deliver to the Japanese government?"

"A simple one," Amanda said. "I want the pilot candidates made available for evaluation to see if they have been abused while undergoing their training. I also want them out of the program permanently, reintegrated into society, and the Japanese government to admit fault in their conduct and provide all of the children involved an indemnity."

"About what I expected," Kaji said. "Just so I am clear on this, none of those are negotiable?"

"Of course not," Amanda said. "If they want to negotiate, then tell them that my next offer will require all those, plus a public hearing before the UN General Assembly. If they find that unacceptable, I have a report that I have not yet submitted to the Security Council regarding Japan's subpar conduct during the engagement with Sahaquiel and the unpreparedness of its government when it came to providing the assistance it is legally obliged to. Seeing as those failures could have directly affected NERV's ability to assist in the defense of its foreign branches, including those in the United States, well, I'm sure they can draw the appropriate conclusions themselves."

Kaji ran a hand through his hair. "You really are merciless, you know that?"

"I have very little patience for politics," Amanda stated. "NERV's responsibility is to ensure the survival of the human race. If that survival demands the scalps of a few politicians, I'll wield the hatchet myself."

"That's going to make you a lot of enemies," Kaji pointed out.

A glint flashed over Amanda's eyes. "Those gutless wastes of oxygen should be thankful that I've deigned to make them _my_ enemies. It's about the only way they'll be anything more than a footnote in history."

* * *

"What is the meaning of this!?"

If he was completely honest Kaji felt that his nominal superior was handling this much better than he thought he would.

"The Trident project's been completely compromised," Kaji repeated. "Auditor Sommer showed me schematics, training schedules, even the original white paper that the JSSDF wrote when they proposed the project."

"How did she get them!?"

"I don't know," Kaji said with a perhaps not entirely appropriate shrug. "She didn't tell me. She did however inform me on what she intends to do with the information, specifically the records she has on the pilots."

When Kaji first showed up in Tokyo-2 he had dropped by one of his emergency conduits, a young woman that he could pretend he was trying to pick up without looking too conspicuous with all the doubletalk. Within an hour he had been shepherded into the ministry building and was now sitting with the junior vice-minister.

"And what does she want from us?" Takaro demanded. "What does that bitch expect to be able to blackmail from us?"

Kaji's eyes narrowed. "Minister, while I am loyal to Japan, I have counted Sommer as amongst my friends for years now. Insult her again and I may just decide that she has a point."

Takaro looked as if he was about to explode but fortunately common sense broke through. It looked as if at least he did not have an inflated sense of self-importance and knew when to fold.

"Apologies Agent Kaji," he said. "However, the consequences of this leak are serious. Sommer-san must have gotten the intelligence from somewhere. If the UN itself is in possession of it, then it is only a matter of time before every other country knows about the Trident."

"Minister, I think you're worrying about the wrong thing," Kaji said. "First, you're right, Trident is compromised and the fact that she got as much as she did says sad things about our own counterintelligence. How far and how much will spread to the other nations is actually an open question. Members of the UN Inspectorate are not in the habit of sharing intelligence with our home nations, those that do either get imprisoned if they're lucky or shot if they're not. The only reason I'm still alive is because any intel I pass on is about the UN itself, not about the other member states."

"Alright, so our enemies aren't likely to get the detailed technical schematics," Takaro said.

"Not unless one of them was the one that shared the data with the UN in the first place," Kaji said, eliciting a frown from the other man, but he went on uninterrupted. "And to be perfectly frank sir, I don't think Amanda even particularly cares about the Tridents. It's the situation with the pilot candidates that has pissed her off."

"What?"

"I've seen those documents as well. The initial prototypes were completed a year ago but the JSSDF began training pilots two years ago. Pilots that were only twelve years old at the time."

"But that's ridiculous!" Takaro protested. "Didn't NERV select the Second Child at age nine!? And the First! We don't even have any records of her until she appeared as a pilot candidate!"

"'Make no mistake, what has been done to the Children is monstrous, and we are monsters for doing it,'" Kaji said. "That's what she once said to me back in Germany."

Takaro grumbled. "Wonderful. So? What does she intend to do with the data on the pilots?"

"Well for the time being she's handed them over to me to investigate," Kaji said. "She's also filed a preliminary report with the Inspectorate, with notes about her concerns regarding potential abuse suffered by the pilots, based on the medical evaluation of the pilot that is already in UN custody."

"What? What abuse?"

"Internal trauma, micro-fractures in the bones," Kaji listed, "torn muscles, weakened tendons, those are lost some of the injuries the pilot seems to be suffering from. And those are on top of the ones he acquired from his little accident last night."

A stunned look appeared on Takaro's face. "What?"

"Your surprise is quite believable," Kaji said. "I'm almost inclined to think you didn't know."

"Of course I didn't!" This time Takaro did explode. "And what the hell happened to the pilot for all that to happen!?"

Kaji blinked, slightly taken aback by the vehemence of his superior's response. His breathing was remarkably even despite his outburst and Kaji was inclined to think he really was telling the truth.

"There's a design flaw in the Trident," Kaji said. "The developers cut margins to achieve specific weight/power ratios and so kept the amount of shocks and cushioning to an absolute minimum. A healthy adult might barely be able to ride the thing without developing severe problems, but a child that's still growing?"

The scowl on Takaro's face grew fiercer. "And is this confirmed?"

"That's technically what my job is," Kaji said. "Sommer wants me to bring in the other pilots to determine if they also suffer from the same injuries."

"And will you?"

"It's my job," Kaji said. "And frankly in this case, I don't see a reason not to do it."

Takaro sighed. "Neither do I. Very well, Agent Kaji, I know you don't need my permission to proceed, but consider it given. I'll do what I can to keep the government from trying to apply any indirect pressure on you."

"Technically the government shouldn't be able to exert any indirect pressure at all," Kaji said dryly. "I am supposed to be completely black, no?"

Takaro grunted. "And you more or less are. Besides your immediate and emergency handlers and myself, no one else knows you work for us. But I wasn't talking about the prime minister or the defense minister trying to lean on us, I'm talking about the JSSDF trying to hush this up. They've grown very powerful since their founding and General Suzaku is not one to accept any sort of interference in his domain, especially if the source is foreign in origin."

"Sounds about right," Kaji said. "Well, look at it this way, forcing the general to burn some political capital can't really be a bad thing. It might even help reinforce the notion of civilian control over the military. Oh yes, there was one other thing about the pilots that pissed Sommer off. In fact, I think this is what really set her off."

Takaro cocked his head to the side as he waited for Kaji to elaborate. Before the meeting was over the soundproofing of the room was put to very good use.

* * *

Mana was feeling more than a little disoriented at the moment. Two days ago her friend Keita had gotten into an accident while on a training mission and thus far their JSSDF minders had refused to provide any news to the other pilot trainees. Then today just as they were rousing for morning drills new orders came down to pack everything and prepare for relocation. The girl admitted to herself a slight panic at that but as they disembarked the bus their destination did not look that different from their previous base. Well, besides the fact that this base was right next to a large city with its massive skyscrapers towering above them.

"Fall in!" an authoritative but distinctly feminine voice cried out.

The teens obeyed instinctively and Mana lined up next to her friend Musashi. Before them stepped a clean cut and stern looking woman that all of them recognized instantly. After all, there were very few women in Japan that wore the crossed wings of a UN colonel.

"Pilots, welcome to Valhalla base. I am Kayabuki Midori, commanding colonel of the 597th UN Regiment. On this base I am judge, jury, and if need be executioner." Kayabuki's eyes swept down the line. "Do _not_ give me that need."

The teens collectively swallowed.

"While here you will follow my orders promptly and precisely. Tokyo-3 is a battlefield and while the civvies in the city may go about pretending otherwise, on this base we will conduct ourselves as befits proper soldiers in times of war. Am I clear!"

"Yes ma'am!" the teens roared in response.

Kayabuki nodded. "Kudo, quarter the kids and have the platoon sergeants run them through base protocol."

"Aye ma'am."

With that Kayabuki spun about and walked off, more than one of the boys sneaking peeks at her departing back. There was no doubt that the colonel projected quite the presence, her force of will shining alongside a statuesque form. It was therefore not at all surprising that some of the boys were almost drooling, Musashi being amongst them. Mana sighed resignedly. Some things never changed. Then again the girl could not quite dismiss her comrades' infatuation. After the battles against the Second and Third Angels Kayabuki had become something of a minor celebrity amongst the rank and file of the Japanese military. Some of it was almost certainly due to the fact that she was a woman, and a good looking one at that. For Mana though the colonel was something of an inspiration, a demonstration that hard work would be properly rewarded, even if it was ultimately the UN that did the rewarding.

Kudo cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the trainees. Some of them at least had the courtesy to at least look somewhat embarrassed about their behavior. The major reciprocated by pretending to ignore their staring.

"All of you will be quartered with Second Battalion, boys in barracks 5, girls in barracks 6. The platoon sergeants of each barrack will run you through base procedures. You will not deviate from those procedures during your stay here, security personnel have orders to shoot on sight."

More gulps. The guards at their previous base had had no such orders.

"After you finish speaking with your platoon sergeants, report to the hospital for a checkup," Kudo continued. "If you have any questions, direct them to any of the noncoms attached to your assigned platoon barracks. If you have any problems, bring them to myself or any of the battalion COs. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

Kudo nodded. "Dismissed!"

Mana picked up her bag and after giving Musashi's hand a quick squeeze trotted after the only other two girls in the group of twenty trainees. The three hung out fairly often thanks to being the only girls in the group and Mana got along with them fairly well. Besides Keita and Musashi, the other two girls were the only ones that seemed to be growing uncomfortable with the risks they were all taking.

As the trio entered the barracks a sturdy looking young woman stepped before them.

"Identify yourselves!" she snapped.

The girls snapped to attention.

"Trainee Kirishima, reporting as ordered ma'am!"

"Trainee Tatsumiya, reporting as ordered ma'am!"

"Trainee Memphis-Hazama, reporting as ordered ma'am!"

The woman nodded. "I am Sergeant First Class Kasahara. Kirishima, you're in luck, you'll be bunking with me. Akashi, Tatsumiya, you two will be sharing the room next door. There's one bathroom between the four of us, you've got five minutes each in the morning to freshen up so don't waste any time in there."

Kasahara rattled off other rules and regulations including chow time and place, laundry, and other basic necessities for living on base. Each one was given a temporary ID that would also provide them with free meals at the mess hall. A good twenty minutes passed before three were standing outside about to be directed toward the hospital. It was then that a short man wearing the solid bars of a first lieutenant walked up.

"Kasahara, where are the inventory records?" he demanded.

"Sorry Lieutenant Dojo," Kasahara said, snapping to attention. "I'll have them ready for you this afternoon!"

Dojo's mouth opened as if he were about to yell at the sergeant but he clamped it shut before the three girls.

"See that you do," he snapped instead and walked off.

"Don't worry," Kasahara said to the girls as they watched him leave. "His bite is worse than his bark."

Mana was not the only one to look at the sergeant. "Umm, shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Hmm? If the worst he does is yell, you're good in his books," Kasahara explained.

"I, see," Mana said, not entirely honestly.

"Alright, follow me," Kasahara said cheerfully.

"But, ma'am, don't you need to do that inventory?" Tatsumiya asked.

Kasahara winked at the girls. "I have an entire morning to finish it and sixteen hundred still counts as afternoon. Time management is a very important skill to have. Now, follow me."

The girls allowed themselves amused smiles as they followed. Those smiles soon disappeared as they arrived at the hospital. Surprisingly they were the first ones of the trainees there. The lobby however was bustling with activity but Mana managed to pick out three people that her instincts told her were there for a specific purpose. Two of them wore the navy blue of the UN, a Japanese man and a foreign brown-haired woman, while the third wore the red field jacket of NERV. Mana slowed, trying to pick out what they might be saying, but to her surprise all three were speaking in a foreign language. It was not English, the girl was certain of that much. Then she recalled that the UN auditor-general stationed at Tokyo-3 was a German woman. Said woman seemed to notice Mana peeking at them and met the girl's eyes. Mana blushed slightly at being caught but the woman simply smiled and nodded for the girl to keep moving. Mana quickly scampered after her fellow trainees and the sergeant.

"They look so young," Kaji said as he watched the girl run off.

"They are just kids," Amanda said. "Hopefully we got them out in time."

"Hopefully," Kaji said. "The Defense Ministry's kicking up a fuss already and I have a meeting with the Prime Minister this afternoon. I expect they'll be asking me to brush this all under the rug."

Amanda snorted. "Do they know about the hearing yet?"

"Official notice should have arrived last night," Kaji said. "Might have had something to do with their request for an 'urgent' meeting this morning."

"Take a few guards with you," Amanda said.

"I don't think things have escalated quite that far yet," Kaji said with a smirk. "After all, the meeting is on the public record."

Before he could say anything else Kayabuki entered the hospital. At catching sight of the three she walked over.

"Colonels, inspector," she greeted.

"Colonel," Amanda responded.

"The VTOL is ready to take you to Tokyo-2, inspector," Kayabuki said, turning to Kaji. "A squad of my best will be accompanying you to the Prime Minister's residence."

Kaji chuckled and glanced over at Amanda. "You leave nothing to chance, do you?"

"Seeing as Misato is likely to strip my hide if I let anything happen to yours, I thought some precautions were prudent," Amanda said, ignoring the flush on her friend's face.

"I suppose I can't protest to anything that lets me keep my hide," Kaji said. "Well then ladies, I'll see you when I get back. Preferably in one piece."

With that Kaji took his leave.

"You sure he'll be okay?" Misato asked, apparently unable to suppress her concern.

"I guarantee it," Kayabuki said. "What's going to be really interesting is who from the JSSDF will also be sitting in on the meeting."

"The higher ranked the officer, the more seriously they're taking this?" Misato suggested.

"And it'll give us a hint at what level their sacrificial pawn will be at," Amanda said. "Someone's going to take a fall for this and you can be sure it won't be General Suzaku."

"No, Suzaku's too damn sneaky for that," Kayabuki agreed. "If I had to bet money, it'll be Hirokawa that takes the fall."

"Hirokawa?" Misato said.

"The officer in charge of the Trident project," Amanda explained. "A real hardliner in the JSSDF, believes in Japan's divine place in the world and all that nonsense. He'd take the fall and be proud of it in the belief that it would allow Suzaku to continue with their shared mission unimpeded."

"Ah, a fanatic," Misato said. "Japan has too many of those these days. But is he really going to be the only one that gets called to account for Trident?"

"Of course not," Amanda assured her friend. "I've already got enough to charge a third of the Trident development team with gross negligence of not outright active endangerment, from the designers that cut corners and didn't protest after they found out that the intended pilots were minors to the training officers that were supposed to look after those kids. Some of them I'll also nail for active abuse."

"Good."

Amanda chuckled. "Your maternal instincts awakening since adopting Shinji?"

Misato stuck out a tongue at Amanda. "I've always had a nurturing side."

"Sure, sure. Anyway, we need to get back to Tokyo-3. I trust you'll get the results of their medical checkup forwarded once they've been compiled, colonel?"

"Leave it to me," Kayabuki assured them.

"How did you get the kids here so quick anyway?" Misato asked as she and Amanda walked off. "I thought the JSSDF would have fought tooth and nail to prevent it."

"I didn't give them time to get organized," Amanda said. "And even the captain in charge of the kids thought twice about trying to defy an order undersigned by the UN Inspectorate, the Home Ministry, and General Hiraga of the JSDF."

Misato raised an eyebrow. "Okay, the Inspectorate I can understand, but the Home Ministry and the JSDF? How'd you pull that off?"

"Kaji pulled some strings with his contacts and I had a little chat with the general. He is the official military liaison to the UN and he was as, disgusted, with the treatment of the pilot trainees as you and I were. It wasn't hard."

"Damn. How many steps ahead are you of everyone?"

Amanda grinned. "Enough."

* * *

The soldiers that accompanied Kaji were armed, though with sidearms it was unlikely they posed much of a threat. The guards outside the kantei, the Prime Minister's official residence and workplace, thought differently.

"I'm afraid your guards cannot enter with weapons, Inspector Kaji," the sergeant at the gates said.

The squad accompanying Kaji exchanged unhappy looks before glancing over at the inspector. Technically the sergeant was correct, no unauthorized personnel were permitted into the presence of the prime minister with weapons. On the other hand the expanded authority granted to the UN meant its agents were supposed to be able to go anywhere their duties took them, including normally limited access areas. Still there was no need to unduly antagonize the Japanese government at this point, though Kaji was not quite prepared to roll over completely.

"Sergeant," Kaji said to the noncom commanding his escort. "Have half of your squad stay out here and the rest will turn over their sidearms to them. That half will then accompany me inside."

"As you say sir," the regiment sergeant said, obeying but making clear his unhappiness without being outright insubordinate.

The sergeant handed over his own gun to a subordinate and led the way into the compound. Two other soldiers flanked Kaji was he followed while the last two trailed behind. The other four took up positions around the Humvees that had brought them all.

The Prime Minister's residence was a rather nice place. Surrounding the building itself was a classical Japanese garden with a clear pool that revealed the presence of quite a few fish. While they weren't visible Kaji knew that on the roof was a series of solar panels. Combined with the glass walls the place gave a feel of old blended with new.

"Inspector Kaji," a well dressed man greeted them at the front door. "Your guards will not be necessary while you are a guest here."

"We were given explicit orders by the colonel to personally ensure the inspector's safety," the sergeant said before Kaji could respond.

The other man frowned. "I assure you, the inspector will be perfectly fine."

The sergeant looked at the man with practiced patience. "Are you telling me, agent, that you would hand responsibility of your charge to someone else just because they assured you that he would be fine?"

The agent held the sergeant's gaze for several moments before finally tilting his head in acknowledgment of the point and stepping aside.

"Nicely done," Kaji whispered to the sergeant.

The man grunted but kept his attention focused on his surroundings, ever the professional.

The group was escorted to a nice appointed conference room. The table looked to even be made of real wood. Only two other people were waiting inside, the prime minster himself and a young looking lieutenant with a JSSDF insignia on his uniform. A first lieutenant so he was not quite at the bottom of the stack, but that the JSSDF did not send someone senior said volumes about the credence they lent to the UN inquiry. That was fine with Kaji, it would be an interesting challenge to get the JSSDF to recognize the authority and primacy of the UN. And quite a bit of fun watching them squirm.

"Inspector Kaji," the prime minister greeted, having the courtesy to at least stand as he did so.

"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for the invitation," Kaji said, reciprocating the courtesy with a slight bow of his own.

"This is a grave matter before us, inspector, I thought it only prudent that we discuss it in person. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you sir."

"This is Lieutenant Sugo of the JSSDF," the aide that led them here introduced. "He is one of the staffers on the Trident project."

"Well lieutenant, I hope you'll be able to answer some questions for the UN."

"I will endeavor to represent my nation to the best of my ability."

The sergeant just barely suppressed a smirk, though not very well if the flush on the lieutenant's face was any indication. The prime minister at least was too seasoned a politician to reveal his emotions like that. So the JSSDF sent not only a junior officer but also an immature one. Interesting indeed.

"I understand that the United Nations has concerns regarding one of my country's weapons programs," the prime minister said. "While I understand that the UN feels a certain need to, monitor, developments that they feel may impact the international environment, the right to self-defense is enshrined within international law and a nation is perfectly within its rights to pursue methods to do so."

Sugo looked immensely self-satisfied as the prime minister finished his opening remarks while Kaji felt an overbearing need to roll his eyes. He suppressed it however, there was still a job to do.

"Self-defense is certainly a right all sovereign nations have," Kaji agreed. "At the same time, the government of a nation remains legitimate only for so long as it protects the rights of its citizens and refrains from abusing its people. After all, a government exists at the sufferance of the people and once it loses that trust, it is on borrowed time. In such situations history demonstrates that the best course of action is to quickly euthanize the government in question, as the greater it attempts to prolong its existence, the greater the suffering that government inflicts upon the people."

At this point the lieutenant looked near apoplectic and even the prime minister was revealing hints of his emotions. Then again he only had himself to blame as the prime minister was the one that came out swinging with the nonsense about sovereign rights. He was right that governments did have certain internationally recognized laws, but they had them only so long as internationally that government was recognized as being one.

"Now, let us go over the various topics of concern," Kaji said. "Many nations are developing new weapons systems and as you said there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Even in spite of the Trident's very impressive feature list, assuming your engineers actually achieves all of them of course, the walker is fairly conventional. In fact the UN probably would not have cared about it in the least, until we noticed the pilot candidates drafted for the program."

"A correction," Sugo suddenly interjected. "All of the trainees are volunteers."

"Volunteers have the right to withdraw," Kaji countered.

"They signed on as recruits and thus have an obligated term of service," Sugo insisted.

"Interesting, I was not aware that Japan had changed the legal age of enlistment from 16 to 12," Kaji replied blandly.

Sugo flushed but before he could say anything else the prime minister cut him off.

"Lieuteunant, enough."

The officer clamped his mouth shut but still fumed at Kaji.

"Inspector," the prime minister said in a more level tone, "the test pilots selected for the Trident project were done so because it was felt that the younger generation might be able to grasp the proposed control scheme more easily and thus provide us with test data more quickly. They are however only test pilots for the prototypes, they are not intended to serve as pilots for the production models."

"That is strange, seeing as the Trident whitepaper includes a section discussing the conditioning of pilots to prepare them for future combat when they, and I quote, 'reach the appropriate age,'" Kaji stated. "I suppose that line could be interpreted in a more benign manner, but I'm afraid it is my job to consider the worst and investigate appropriately."

The prime minister closed his mouth as Kaji preempted his protestation.

"Considering the seriousness of this situation, I'm afraid that I will have to insist upon the disclosure of all records produced by the participants of the Trident project," Kaji said. "If, as you seem to insist, the trainees were nothing more than test pilots used to gather data, then the internal messages generated by the Trident staff should bear that out. Conversely a different attitude towards the trainees would also make clear that they were intended to see combat in the future. Of course seeing as you are adamant that that is not the case, I trust that you have no objections to granting me access to the relevant records?"

"This is absurd!" Sugo exploded. "You have no right to see those records! They are the sovereign property of the state of Japan and the JSSDF! You're just a stooge for the UN! What makes you think we need to show you anything!?"

"Lieutenant," the prime minister said sternly.

"Lieutenant, it is plainly obvious that you are irrelevant in this discussion seeing as you have neither the authority nor the intelligence to contribute meaningfully," Kaji said, stunning both the prime minister and the lieutenant. "I suggest you leave before I have to find you in contempt of a UN investigation and have the sergeant toss you out on your ass. You have ten seconds."

Sugo began sputtering something completely incoherent as his shock momentarily overcame his rage.

"Five seconds."

The man was either too dimwitted or too fixated on himself to respond and with a nod from Kaji the sergeant grabbed hold of Sugo by his collar and literally threw him out of the room with a private holding the door open. Said private promptly slammed it closed and stood ready to keep it shut.

"Now, shall we continue, Mr. Prime Minister?" Kaji said. "Hopefully without the interruptions from the young lieutenant, you and I can get some real work done."

The prime minister eyed Kaji warily before finally nodding. The point had been made, Kaji would not be bluffed or bullied into doing what the Japanese government wanted and if they tried he was perfectly capable of reciprocating. If the government really wanted to stop this, they would need some other approach. The prime minister was certain General Suzaku would begin concocting them the moment Sugo reported his humiliation.

* * *

The doctor that sat across from Kirishima looked kindly and wore a friendly smile. The girl felt remarkably at ease in her presence. That did not of course mean she trusted the doctor, not yet at least.

"Kirishima-san," the doctor greeted. "I am Hayashima Hitomi, base psychiatrist for NERV-Tokyo. I'd like to ask you some questions about your experiences in the Trident project."

Mana eyed the doctor warily. "I'm sorry, that's all supposed to be classified."

Hayashima nodded. "I understand. The JSSDF required that you sign a nondisclosure agreement when you enlisted and I'm sure they implied all sorts of consequences if you broke it. I don't expect you to take my word for it that NERV and the UN can protect you just because I promise it. That kind of trust has to be earned, and I hope you'll at least give me a chance to earn it. Fair?"

Mana nodded slowly.

"Good, that's a start. Now, first thing's first. You're worried about your friend, right?"

Mana blinked and surprise caused her to blurt out. "You know what happened to Keita?"

"Would you like to see him?"

The girl nodded frantically. Hayashima stood and gestured for her to follow and the two proceeded down the hall. The room they stopped before had two soldiers from the regiment stationed outside. One nodded and promptly opened the door. Mana was through it in a flash.

"Keita!"

Hayashima followed, giving the girl time to absorb what she saw before her. The boy on the bed was on full life support, his breathing regulated by machine and IVs dotting his arm. Mana felt both relief and worry mix within her, relief at finally finding out what happened to her friend but also worry about whether he'd ever wake up.

"He'll recover," Hayashima assured the girl. "NERV has some of the best doctors in the world and they're doing everything they can to help him."

Mana wiped away the tears that were slowly leaking from her eyes. "Thank you."

"The doctors, when they examined him, found a few problems," Hayashima said softly. "There are indications of old internal wounds, fractures in the bones that are still mending, a lot of it too old to be from when the Trident crashed."

Mana looked over at the doctor, the tears fading.

"They also found similar, wounds, in you, Kirishima-san," Hayashima said. "We'd, like to get a better understanding of how such wounds occurred."

The girl met Hayashima's eyes, her own crystal clear. She nodded.

* * *

"Yo prof!"

Shinji looked over to see Toji and Kensuke walking behind him.

"Oh, hey."

"Hey Shinji, did you hear the rumors?" Kensuke asked excitedly. "We're getting a bunch of transfer students in!"

Shinji blinked. "A bunch?"

"Yeah! This is a really weird time in the year for it, don't you think? Any chance they're, you know what?"

The boy thought back, trying to dig up anything that might confirm his friend's theory before shaking his head. "I haven't heard any mention of any EVA pilots transferring to Tokyo-3 and I'm pretty sure Misato-san would have told me if that was happening."

"Ah man, that's a bummer," Kensuke said, deflating noticeably. "But still, there has to be something going on. I mean, why else would they drop half a dozen new students in on us?"

Shinji blinked. "That many?"

The bespectacled boy nodded. "That's what the rumors say, anything. Two of them are supposed to be joining our class. Hmm, I wonder if they're girls?"

"Aida, get your head out of the gutter."

"Ack! Class rep! Where did you come from!?"

"And start paying attention to your surroundings," Hikari chided. "Honestly, for such a military nut you sure have poor tactical acumen."

"That, that hurts class rep!" Kensuke protested.

The pigtailed girl ignored him, instead smiling at her boyfriend. "Good morning Toji."

"G-good morning Hikari," Toji responded as calmly as he could.

"Sheesh, you two've been dating for months now and you still act all nervous around her?" Asuka commented. "Pathethic."

"Hey!"

"Ah don't be too mean to him," Hikari said, coming to her boyfriend's rescue. "It's one of his more endearing points."

"Sure, sure," Asuka said. "So what's this about transfer students? You hear anything about this, Hikari?"

"I got notice of it yesterday afterschool," Hikari said. "Two new students for our class, a Kirishima-san and a Memphis-Hazama-san."

"Memphis-Hazama?" Shinji said. "Two last names, a foreign and a Japanese one?"

Hikari nodded. "Like Asuka-san's. Hazama-san may have both a Japanese and foreign parent."

"Hey uh, class rep, were there pictures?" Kensuke asked.

The look that Hikari gave Kensuke was in no ways intimidating. The boy still quailed under it. The group made it to school without further incident and settled in waiting for the day to begin. Then the teacher entered and delivered his announcement. The class' attention noticeably focused.

* * *

Mana took a deep breath to calm herself. Only two days had passed since the arrival at Valhalla base and suddenly all of the trainees were being enrolled in school. The girl was not quite clear on what was going on but went along with it, especially after having been able to see Keita. Her friend was still sedated but the doctors at the hospital were obviously working hard to put him back together. Then there were her sessions with Dr. Hayashima. Mana had talked, a lot. In fact she was almost certainly going to be in trouble with the JSSDF. But the girl felt certain of her decision, the people she had thus far met from NERV and the UN, from the doctor to the auditor-general to even the chief inspector, all of them seemed like good people that genuinely wanted to help her and her friends. And if they needed her to play a small part, she would gladly play it.

Upon being called Mana and the other girl entered the classroom. The two wrote their names on the board and bowed as they introduced themselves.

"Hazama Canon Memphis," her friend greeted. "A pleasure to meet you all."

Mana looked out at the class, not at all surprised at the enthusiastic gaze of the boys. Yet there was one boy amidst them that seemed to see past their gender, someone whose eyes belayed a gentle yet firm strength that seemed well beyond his age. She recognized the boy easily enough, his picture had been part of the mission brief for the scrubbed intelligence operation she was originally supposed to participate in. Shinji Ikari, Third Child and pilot of Unit 01.

"Kirishima Mana," Mana said. "I hope we can all be friends."

As their eyes met Shinji smiled. He did not look away, did not flinch. He was nothing like what the profiles suggested. Mana found herself smiling back.

End of Chapter 20

A couple of notes. First, Kudo is NOT a sidestepper. The fact that he is not is actually important enough that I need to make this explicit. I had to give him a first name because it would have sounded really stupid if Amanda didn't use his full name when giving him an award. Second, the start of chapter 12 runs concurrently with the end of chapter 11 so there is some time overlap. That may not have been explicit enough. Third, Amanda is referring to Klinge when she uses the codename of Mother. All those points are sufficiently relevant that I feel the need to clarify in case I was not explicit enough in the text.

I included Katerose von Kreutzer because her voice actress is the same as Misato's. It was a funny enough coincidence and Katerose is as much of a redhead tsundere as Asuka in some respects and I needed more German characters so I decided, what the hell. And it would just be wrong not to include Julian if I included Katerose. The real question is what other characters I will be borrowing. I have to pad at least some of the other Trident pilot trainees after all.

This would be more funny if it wasn't so irritating but the draft for In Tune has gotten so long that Microsoft Word actually has stopped highlighting spelling errors. Right now word is claiming over 188,000 words. That's one of the primary reasons errors have been slipping in the past few chapters since a mistype can result in an error that I don't notice until well after the fact. And depending on which keyboard I'm using, mistypes are more prone to happen. Like the piece of crap HP keyboard I'm using now.

I suppose I wasn't clear enough on the submarine thing. Yes, it's theoretically possible to modify one that it'd be usable in space, but doing so constitutes a major rebuild at which point the entire rationale for using an existing sub, that it's ready to go to begin with after minor modification, gets negated. It's one of those ideas that should die on the drawing board (the radiator issue by itself should be enough of a deterrent), not get touted as a shortcut or an example of a character or faction's ingenuity. But this is one of those areas where a person's perspective dictates how far they're willing to accept impractical engineering for the sake of plot or coolness factor. Mine just happens to be very, low, when it comes to that area. Might have something to do with the fact that two of my grandparents were naval architects.

I expect the Kirishima scenario to span for about three or four chapters total, including this one. It may stretch to five if I end up needing to shove more stuff in. This arc is also an opportunity for Kaji to actually do something, since I really haven't written him doing much of anything. That needs to change if I am to keep him as relevant as he was in the series. After all, the collective has plans for him.

Gendo, has a plan. In fact he's had a plan for a few chapters now. It's not going to end pretty for a lot of people involved. And if you thought the Yamagishi scenario was tragic, well, ahem.

At this point I'll just say that once we get to a certain point, Soren's stoicism will make sense. I gave him some superficial similarities via his culinary and musical talents, but honestly those could have just been a smokescreen. Ahem. Anyway, wait and see.

Drop a review if you enjoyed this.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Forza

"Kirishima-san, Hazama-san, would you two like to have lunch with us?"

Mana looked up in surprise at the smiling class representative but quickly smiled back and nodded. "Thank you, we'd be happy to. Right Canon?"

The other girl's nod was more nervous but she did nod and stood with Mana, cradling her bento. The 'us' turned out to be two other girls who were obviously the First and Second Child.

"Let's go to the roof," Hikari said. "It's a nice day to eat outside."

Mana's cell beeped and the girl glanced at the message.

"Umm, could we wait a bit?" Mana asked. "A friend of ours also transferred in but is in a different class, and she's coming over to meet up with us."

"Of course," Hikari said.

The wait was not long and a few minutes later a tall girl with tanned skin entered. More heads turned.

"Tatsumiya-san," Mana greeted. "This is Horaki-san, the class representative for 2-A. She invited us to have lunch with her."

The newest girl bowed with a slight smile. "A pleasure to meet you, I am Tatsumiya Mana of class 2-B."

"We share the same first name so we usually just refer to each other by our last names," Mana interjected.

"I see," Hikari said. "Well, a pleasure to meet you as well, Tatsumiya-san." She then glanced at her own friends. "This is Shikinami Asuka Langley-san, and this is Ayanami Rei-san."

Rei bowed more formally while Asuka simply nodded. With introductions out of the way the group proceeded out of the room and headed for the roof, chatting as they went.

"Lots of rumors flying around," Asuka said with a grin. "This many transfer students coming in all at once? Aida's probably the source of half the theories at this point."

"Aida?" Mana said.

"The glasses boy that sits by the window," the redhead clarified. "He's a military nut and conspiracy theory fan. Makes up one third of the three stooges with Hikari's boyfriend and Shinji."

"You have a boyfriend?" Mana said to the class rep.

"Oh well, we just started dating a few months ago," Hikari said with a slight blush. "Toji can be quite sweet. And what about you and Ikari-kun, Asuka-san?"

The redhead nearly tripped on the stairs. "WHAT!? Where'd that come from!?"

"Well you and he are neighbors right now, and you even cook for each other."

The three newcomers were now looking at the redhead with a renewed sense of interest. Mana especially was contemplating just what this dynamic meant. It was starting to look like even if the mission was never scrubbed, she never would have stood a chance with Asuka around. Though watching the girl flail around trying to deny any sort of relationship was turning out to be surprising good fun.

"Rei cooks too!" Asuka said, trying to deflect. "And besides, it's more efficient this way with so many of us!"

"I suppose," Hikari said with a thoughtful and completely insincere pose. "Still, do you know how many guys in the class would kill for a chance to sample your cooking?"

"Hmph, most of the guys in the class are a bunch of morons and perverts. And if I ever catch the bastard that's been selling photos of me, I will end him!"

For some reason Hikari coughed at that though Mana's own concerns were more focused.

"Photos?" she inquired.

"Some pervert started selling photos of me after I transferred in," Asuka said. "I'd guess it was Aida but he's too gutless to try something like that, especially since he knows I'd kill him if I ever got proof. But mark my words, one of these days I will find out who it is and make them pay. With interest."

Mana snuck a peek at Hikari and noticed the completely innocent and blank look on the girl's face. It was hard to suppress the giggle though the girl managed it, not least because of a sudden worry on her part. True she and her friends were nowhere near a looker like Asuka, though Canon's mixed heritage might somewhat match the redhead's exoticness, but boys' tastes were hard to fathom and it was entirely possible a market might exist for photos of them as well. The look Mana gave to Hikari this time was an open appeal. The slight nod from the class rep went some ways to soothing those concerns.

"So why did you all transfer in all at once?" Asuka asked, apparently having finished venting.

"There was a, problem, with our previous school," Mana said carefully. "All of us had to leave actually and we were transferred to whatever school had space."

Asuka grunted. "Weird choice, coming to Tokyo-3 what with the Angel attacks."

Mana did her best to keep her nervousness from showing in her smile. "Well, a lot of students transferred out when the attacks first started, and we were able to get decent dorm arrangments as well, so this is where we ended up."

The redhead did not seem entirely convinced but fortunately did not press it further. By now they were on the roof and were settling down on a blanket Hikari brought.

"No one else comes up here?" Tatsumiya asked.

"Well, we kind of took over the place," Hikari said with a smile. "At first it was just Aida, Toji, Ikari-kun, and myself. Then Asuka-san and Ayanami-san joined us shortly afterward."

Tatsumiya looked at the other girls. "Are we, perhaps, intruding then?"

"Oh don't worry about it," Hikari assured them. "I wanted to have some time to have a leisurely chat with all of you, I know that being transfer students isn't the easiest thing and I thought lunch would be a good time for you to ask any questions you might have."

The three girls exchanged looks before Mana took the lead.

"Does the teacher go on about pre-Second Impact like that every day?"

Three sets of heads nodded in sync with one another in response.

"Every damn day," Asuka said. "Half the class probably sleeps through it while most of the rest spends the time in the chatrooms."

"Afternoon classes are however more difficult," Hikari said. "Today we have math and physics. Let's see, we just finished the trigonometry unit, I believe we're starting up the linear algebra unit next."

The three newcomers blinked in confusion.

"Have you three taken algebra yet?"

Nods answered.

"Well linear algebra is basically just algebra but dealing with them in things like matrices and linear equations. Don't worry too much about it, if you have trouble you can always ask me. Asuka-san can also help, right?"

"Yeah, sure," the girl said with an offhanded wave. "Math's easy, just a bunch of numbers and symbols. This school's program, well, besides the history stuff, is actually pretty advanced. And since it's an escalator system all the way up to university, they don't deal with any of that college prep nonsense so you actually learn some useful stuff."

"That's good to know," Mana said, though some of her enthusiasm was wearing thin. The girl was not one of math's great admirers.

"Hmm? You three have the same lunch?" Asuka suddenly remarked.

A slight jot ran through Mana as her attention snapped back to her immediate surroundings as she forced a laugh.

"We just moved into our new dorms," she said, "and the place has a convenient cafeteria. Right now we're just grabbing stuff from there for lunch."

"Makes sense," the redhead said. "Why cook when someone else is there to do it for you?"

"Because sometimes cooking for oneself makes the food taste even better," Hikari said sagely, tea in hand with eyes closed.

Asuka stuck out a tongue at her friend, eliciting laughs from Mana and her friends. The brown haired girl looked up at the clear skies. This, was much better. In fact if things worked out, she could even see herself staying here. And maybe she could become actual friends with the pilots instead of as some plot to steal NERV's secrets.

* * *

Lieutenant Dojo looked at his counterpart in the JSSDF with barely restrained irritation. Not that long ago he wore a similar uniform, not that his UN uniform was all that different save for the rank insignia, but the man before him now was well and truly trying his patience.

"What the hell do you mean we don't have access?" Dojo demanded. "I have a warrant here undersigned by the UN Inspectorate that gives me permission to enter these premises and gather the relevant records for their investigation."

"I'm sorry, but my orders are to keep out all unauthorized personnel," the lieutenant repeated. "Only personnel authorized by the JSSDF may enter."

"And I'm telling you that the authority of this warrant supersedes any orders from the JSSDF."

"I'm afraid my orders make no mention of such an exception. You will need to contact the relevant JSSDF authority if you wish to get permission to enter."

"Or you could contact your superiors now so that they can sort out YOUR misunderstanding," Dojo spat back.

"My orders are explicit," the lieutenant insisted. "If you wish to enter, you are the one that needs to present documentation that I have been ordered to recognize."

Dojo mentally reminded himself that strangling the lieutenant would not get him anywhere, no matter how satisfying it might be. Instead he shot the lieutenant a look of disgust before heading back to the Humvee.

"Sir?" Kasahara said as he entered. "Are we leaving?"

"No, but we're not going to get past this guy without escalating. I just need clarification on how far to escalate." Dojo picked up the radio. "Put me through to either Inspector Kaji or Auditor Sommer, whomever is available or will be available the soonest."

The wait was not long.

"This is Kaji, Lieutenant Dojo, you seem to have run into a problem?"

"The JSSDF lieutenant is stonewalling," Dojo said. "He's playing dumb about UN authority and is refusing to contact his superiors to get clarification."

"I see. How many troops do you have with you lieutenant?"

"Most of my platoon along with some support staff to help us with accessing and retrieving the records ma'am," Dojo replied.

"Vehicles?"

"A couple of Humvees and trucks sir."

"Alright. I'll pass the word to Colonel Kayabuki, she'll send something heavier your way to force your way in, but that'll probably take a few hours to get to your location. You think you can sit tight until then?"

"Yes sir."

"And Lieutenant Dojo? Anything that you can do to make the good lieutenant's life more uncomfortable, feel free to do."

"Yes sir."

Closing the channel, Dojo looked out at the base entrance again. The JSSDF guards were standing at attention in front, obviously intending to look intimidating. As far as Dojo was concerned they looked like a bunch of kids. He glanced back at the road leading up to the base. An idea struck him.

"Humvees," he said into the platoon channel. "Establish a perimeter on the road, closed ranks. I want guns manned, half directed at the entrance and the other half to the road. Park the trucks on the curbside. Rotate guard detail, off duty squads are to stay close to the vehicles but otherwise can relax however they please."

Affirmatives filtered back to him as his troops quickly figured out what he was trying to do. Within a few minutes the entire platoon was sprawled out across the road into the base, completely sealing off the entrance. Quite a few squads were already breaking out cards and food, a few even lighting their field cookers to heat something up. The entrance to the JSSDF base was quickly turned into a mini-camp for the platoon.

It did not take long for the JSSDF lieutenant to approach Dojo, who was himself lying on the top of his Humvee preparing for a nap. As it was he was able to enjoy several minutes of Kasahara respectfully protesting that it was a very bad idea to interrupt her CO's downtime. Eventually she, very reluctantly of course, relented and let the JSSDF officer through.

"Lieutenant Dojo."

Dojo opened one eye and regarded the other lieutenant with impatient irritation. The man cleared his throat, trying to compose himself.

"Your unit is blocking the entrance into the base," he said. "They need to move."

"My orders are to currently hold position until the misunderstanding regarding UN authority is cleared up," Dojo replied. "Until that time, I have no intention of decamping my platoon."

The lieutenant flushed. "This is unacceptable, your men-"

Kasahara cleared her throat, causing the lieutenant to redden even more.

"-troops are actively blocking the entrance into a JSSDF base and impeding its operation. If they will not move, we will move them ourselves!"

The look in Dojo's eyes took a dangerous glint. "Lieutenant, I suggest you think very carefully about what you just said. Are you really issuing a threat to a UN military unit?"

"I have threatened nothing," the lieutenant said with a glare. "Your unit however is actively interfering with the lawful operation of a JSSDF base. No matter what imagined authority you might think the UN mandate provides you, there is no excuse for the active interference of a sovereign nation's internal affairs. You will either move your platoon, or I will carry out my duty and evict your unit from this position."

Dojo regarded the lieutenant before finally shrugging. "Your protest is duly noted and taken under advisement. Sergeant, please see that the lieutenant gets back to his post."

"Yes sir."

The lieutenant started sputtering something but Kasahara's grip was like steel and the woman dragged him away with little effort. That had to have been as much a shock to the JSSDF officer as Dojo's complete apathy to his demands. Dojo yawned and after waiting a few minutes to make sure the JSSDF was not about to do something stupid, closed his eyes and let himself drift off. He still had a few hours before reinforcements arrived and the real work began after all.

* * *

"General Hiraga, General Suzaku is here to see you."

"Send him in," Hiraga said without even looking over from his monitor.

"Yes sir."

The aide retreated and a few moments later a stern looking officer with the two cherry blossoms of a major-general upon his shoulder. Hiraga stood, a courtesy to his old comrade and sometimes friend. Today the scowl on Suzaku's face was less than congenial however.

"Hiraga," the man greeted.

"Suzaku. Please, have a seat."

The JSSDF general at least had the courtesy of waiting for the invitation before sitting. An aide quickly appeared and presented two cups of tea before retreating. Suzaku waited until they were alone again before speaking.

"You signed an order permitting the UN to transfer trainees from JSSDF jurisdiction."

"I did."

"Why."

To the point. Hiraga had no problem with that.

"Because of the very disturbing reports I saw regarding abuse of civilian children."

Two could play at that game after all. To his credit Suzaku did not offer any sanctimonious denials. Instead he regarded his old comrade for several moments before finally taking a sip of the tea.

"You and I both love our country," Suzaku said. "It's why we joined the SDF."

"You say country, but it's quite clear that our definition of 'country' differs," Hiraga said. "Your definition is an abstract concept, an ideal of sorts. I define it as the people that live in it."

Suzaku's face twitched ever so slightly. This was an old argument between the two, something that went back to their shared days in basic training and one that still separated the two men to this day, whatever their shared dedication to their duty.

"A nation may be made of its people, but unless the people toil and sacrifice that nation will never prosper," Suzaku said. "And if the nation never prospers, then its people will never prosper."

"Toil and sacrifice that is not willing however does not enrich the nation as a whole," Hiraga countered. "If the sacrifice is forced from others it serves only to enrich the few, the already privileged. And those that force such sacrifice do not do so for the nation or for others, they do so for solely themselves."

A flicker of irritation passed Suzaku's face. The general was smart enough at least to know there was a certain amount of truth in Hiraga's words. That did not mean he was prepared to admit any such selfishness on the part of the JSSDF however.

"We live in a dangerous world and hard choices must be made to ensure our future."

"And what future is worth sacrificing children for?"

"Is that not what NERV does?" Suzaku pounced.

Hiraga allowed a slight smile, slightly unnerving his old comrade. Suzaku could not help wonder if he had just walked into another of his friend's traps.

"Have you ever spoken with the NERV personnel charged with overseeing their pilots?"

"Can't say I have," Suzaku said with a grunt.

"One could say they have a similar role as those officers you placed in charge of the Trident pilot trainees. It is their responsibility to see to the personal needs of the pilots, to make sure they are ready and able to pilot the EVAs when an Angel attacks and that they survive and are generally in shape to continue defending humanity. To that end they ensure that when a pilot is wounded, whether it be physically or mentally, the pilot gets the treatment required. In point of fact Auditor-General Sommer is quite meticulous about ensuring the pilots are given the support they need to endure the stresses of their duty. Now, shall we compare their conduct with the conduct of your own officers? Or have I made my point?"

Suzaku sniffed almost contemptuously. "And what happens if this coddling makes the pilots results in them being not up to the task of defeating an Angel?"

This time it was Hiraga that snorted. "And what exactly do you think the pilots have been doing since the start of this war? Or has the fact that we're still alive to have this conversation escaped you?"

The sharpness of the rebuke caused Suzaku to pause as he looked at the other general. As much as he hated to admit it, Hiraga did have a point, even if Suzaku was convinced that the JSSDF's methods would have been far more effective. But trying to argue that you could do a better job than someone who was already doing a good job was a stupid tact to take and the general knew that much at least.

"We are trying to ensure Japan's safety and security," he said instead.

"By sacrificing children, the very future of our nation?" Hiraga countered.

"Some things are worth sacrificing for," Suzaku persisted.

"Japan is not," Hiraga replied, causing Suzaku's eyes to widen. "No nation or state in the world is worth potentially sacrificing our future for. Do you know what it is that NERV is fighting for? What is the one thing that they are risking our future for? Humanity. The world. Not a single nation, not a single government, not even just our species, but all life that is yet left on Earth. That is what they are risking the children for. In comparison, your ambitions look not merely inconsequential, they look petty."

The words were harsh, of that there was no doubt and Suzaku's eyes had taken a dangerous glint upon hearing them. He did not argue however, it was already clear that on this matter his old comrade would not stand with him. In some ways Suzaku was not surprised, his old comrade had always seemed softhearted, unable to truly make the hard decisions needed to protect Japan and raise their homeland to greatness. Suzaku had hoped he was wrong, but he could see now that his initial impression of the man was correct. Hiraga still had a modicum of his respect, the man was certainly competent, but Suzaku now knew that he would never truly be a brother. A shame, but sacrifices had to be made to make Japan great once more.

Before either man could say anything else an aide burst in.

"Please excuse me General," the man said with a low bow, "but a message has arrived. Two messages, one for yourself and one for General Suzaku. They're both marked urgent."

Hiraga raised an eyebrow while Suzaku frowned. The JSDF general however waved for the aide to continue and two pieces of paper were promptly presented. As they read it the reactions of the men diverged even further, Hiraga an impassive contemplation while Suzaku looked about ready to explode with fury.

* * *

"Well, this was certainly impressive," Kaji said.

"The colonel, felt that a more direct approach would pay dividends," Kudo said blandly.

Kaji chuckled. "Well I suppose in this case she was right."

The two were standing on the roof of the main compound on the JSSDF base, having been dropped there by a UN helicopter. Two VTOLs were parked within the base perimeter with another two circling above, the four having delivered another platoon of troops. While the regimental forces were still outnumbered by a decent margin by the JSSDF company stationed here, the air support meant that firepower wise they were at effective parity. The lack of actual heavy anti-air weapons on the part of the JSSDF meant that actually the UN forces held a slight advantage. It was slight, but enough so that when they began ransacking the base's archives and computer systems the commanding captain had done little more than shout his face blue before storming off to inform his superiors about the regiment's maneuver.

Dojo's forces were actually still outside the gates, the JSSDF trying to save some kind of face by keeping him out. The only thing this resulted in was forcing two of the VTOLs to make the ridiculously short hop from inside the base to outside as needed to offload the gathered documents into the trucks meant to take them. It was a ridiculous waste of fuel and Kaji was already determined to issue a bill to the Japanese government for it and the time wasted on this.

"I'm still a bit surprised to be doing this," Kudo admitted.

Kaji nodded. "All of you were JSSDF before transferring."

"Yes. And I'm somewhat ashamed that my former comrades would engage in such petty antics. Or have been engaged in such criminality as the abuse of children."

The inspector grimaced, memories of his own past brushing the surface of his mind. He fought them off however, there was still work to be done.

"How long before we finish with this?" he asked the major.

"We're on the last load for the VTOLs," Kudo said. "Once they make one last hop to transfer the documents and computers we can send them back to base and withdraw ourselves."

"Good," Kaji said. "The longer we stay here, the higher the chance the JSSDF might send something our way to make life difficult."

Kudo nodded in reluctant agreement, but he did agree with the other man's assessment. "Do you think the government will admit anything?"

Kaji let the cigarette fall to his feet and stepped on it to put it out. "Honestly? I'm not sure. You know how us Asians can be, we don't like to ever admit that we're wrong. We might offer words of regret or condolences, but to actually outright apologize or admit fault, that's another matter entirely. Combine that with the desire to save their own necks and the Japanese government has some strong motivations for trying to brush off all this."

The major grimaced.

"Amanda knows that however," Kaji continued. "It's why she's playing so hardball, she's basically trying to make clear that if the government doesn't give in to her initial set of requirements, things will only get worse. The question is whether the people in government are smart enough to realize she isn't bluffing."

"Get worse, sir?"

Kaji nodded. "So far she's just demanding a formal apology, admittance of fault, and compensation for the victims. Heads will of course roll, they have to if you admit fault. But she's also threatening to drag them before the Security Council, and if the Security Council acts on the report from the Inspectorate, that could mean genuine sanctions. Even before we get to that point though, she could involve the International Criminal Court. Imagine how embarrassing it would be for the Japanese government to even be called forth as a defendant. And if it gets that far, then the heads that might roll won't just be limited to people directly involved with Trident, it could also mean the people who indirectly approved it like the Defense Minister or maybe even the Prime Minister."

"Is that, really possible?"

"The government's trying to convince itself it isn't," Kaji said. "At the same time the heavily expanded power of the UN means it actually has enough teeth to enforce its resolutions and sanctions, so the threat of them feels a lot more genuine to states. As for whether Japan would actually be subject to any? I don't know. I do know however if the documentation we already have about the condition of the pilots and some of the plans for them ever hits the public, the current government will fall. That is the one stick that we have, even beyond the threat of sanctions or criminal charges, that they can't ignore. So we'll see if they can get it through their heads that giving Amanda what she wants now will be considerably less painful than forcing her to make an example of them."

Kudo stared at Kaji for several moments before responding. "Auditor-General Sommer seems, quite formidable."

Kaji chuckled. "That's one way of putting it. Now just imagine how formidable the man that married her has to be."

"Major! We've finished loading!"

Kudo nodded and waved for the soldier to move on. "Shall we, inspector?"

Kaji nodded in turn and headed back towards the waiting helicopter. The major was right behind and after both had their headsets on spoke up once more.

"There is something that confuses me a bit. Why does Auditor Sommer believe she could sway the members of the Security Council to sanction Japan?"

"Ah, that is where things get somewhat sticky, but suffice it to say Japan's conduct during the battle with Sahaquiel did not endear it with several permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council. The Chinese and Russians have never really needed a reason to exert pressure on Japan, the three nations have been rivals and even outright enemies many times in the last century or so. So that's two permanent members right there that'd relish a chance to browbeat Japan.

"Then there's the US. Now normally America can be counted on as a staunch ally for Japan, but what happened with Sahaquiel has shaken them a lot more than they're publicly admitting. Two of the NERV sites targeted are in the US, one in a major city and while the Angel was defeated the fact that NERV was struggling to fully employ the positron cannon because of, difficulties caused by the Japanese government, is well known in the international community. America is, not amused, to say the least. And neither is England or France seeing as a hit on Germany would have had serious repercussions on Euro as well, nevermind the fact that Germany is currently one of the rotating members of the Security Council.

"So on balance, we have all of the permanent members and one of the very influential rotating members viewing Japan in an unfavorable light right now, and together they probably have the influence to get enough votes from the other members if they were irritated enough to want to send Japan a message. Amanda timed this investigation very carefully and the Japanese government is aware enough of the international mood that they are genuinely worried that some sort of official sanction or reprimand might get handed down."

"I, see."

Kaji chuckled. "I know, you and I are both Japanese and instinctively it doesn't feel good to see our own country get tarred like this. But in some ways I'm even less happy with finding out that my own country has been abusing kids like this. If the only way to get them to stop doing this and never think of trying it again is to drag the government through the mud a little, well, I think it's worth it."

"I can't really disagree with that sir," Kudo said. "Still, I am a bit worried about the future. Won't this encourage the government or the JSSDF to be even more obstructive in the future? And won't that cause significant problems if another Angel attacks?"

"There is that," Kaji agreed. "I trust Amanda though so I assume she has something else up her sleeves to minimize that particular type of fallout. For now though I'll keep doing my job."

Kudo nodded and said nothing more but Kaji's mind was still racing. The major had a point and it was the one thing in all this that Kaji was having trouble understanding. Amanda was a passionate woman and Kaji always saw her as someone with a strong moral compass. That the JSSDF's treatment of the pilot trainees offended her so much, especially the intended plan with Mana, was no surprise and that she would want to do something about it all was a given. At the same time the auditor could be brutally, even ruthlessly pragmatic and endangering mankind's chances for survival against the Angels by wrecking a working relationship with the Japanese government and the Strategic Self-Defense Force just to satisfy some sort of moral imperative was, unlike her. Something more was going on, something that Amanda was not telling him. Kaji fingered the keycard in his pocket. Fortunately he had an, invitation, to try to find out what it was.

* * *

"So there's something I don't get here," Misato said as she enjoyed a cup of coffee in Amanda's office.

"Hmm?" Amanda murmured, not bothering to look up from papers in her lap.

"The Japanese government's going to be really pissed with you and the UN, and indirectly NERV, for dragging out their dirty laundry like this, and the JSSDF even more so since it's their dirty laundry specifically. Isn't that a somewhat dangerous tact to take when we still need their support to fight the Angels?"

"You'd be surprised on how little we actually do need them," Amanda said, still looking down at her paper. A woman's ability to multitask, or rather this particular woman's, was a thing of envy. "About the only thing we really need from the Japanese government is for them to get problems with the grid tap ironed out and with the Americans and Germans breathing down their collective neck after the cockups during the battle against Sahaquiel, they're not about to try dragging their feet just to try to spite me."

"Are you sure about that?"

This time Amanda did look up, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't mean about the grid tap," Misato said quickly, "that I completely agree with you on. It's just that Tokyo-3 isn't exactly self-sufficient or anything, we depend on supplies flowing in from the rest of Japan. And if I remember right a lot of the munitions for the regiment also comes out of SDF stores."

"True enough," Amanda said as she set aside the packet of papers. "Alright, I suppose I should clarify this for you since it is important, but first you need some background information. Have you ever heard the name Hiroto Ikari?"

Misato shook her head. "Some relative of Shinji-kun's?"

"His maternal grandfather," Amanda said, "and one of the members of SEELE."

The major's eyes widened, eliciting a slight smile from Amanda.

"His daughter was Yui Ikari. Or rather, Yui Ayanami. I finally dug out more records and it looks like she was born out of wedlock and Ayanami was her mother's name. Hiroto took her in at a young age however and so her name was almost immediately changed to Yui Ikari."

"Is she still alive?" Misato asked. "Yui-san's mother that is."

Amanda shook her head. "As far as I can tell she died shortly after childbirth. Sorry, those specific records seem to have been lost due to the chaos of Second Impact."

Misato nodded, both in acknowledgment and also to prompt her friend to continue.

"Anyway, Hiroto is actually a special advisor to the Japanese government. He's a personal friend of the current prime minister and is also Japan's representative on the Committee for Human Instrumentality. He has a lot of soft power within the government, people listen to him and trust him, but since he's just a mere special advisor he doesn't have any formal say in policy so you can't really trace anything concrete back to him."

"How convenient," Misato quipped.

"Quite. So the thing with SEELE is that it tends to be very thorough about maintaining control over its tier one assets like the EVAs and the MAGI. There are interlocking sets of redundant means of control, some complementing each other and others at odds. For example, why do you think I'm here? Or that there's a UN regiment parked next to the city that easily outnumbers the tactical units of your operations branch?"

"In case SEELE feels the need to storm NERV and take it by force," Misato said darkly.

"Exactly. But that wasn't enough. SEELE has a plan for intentionally riling up the Japanese government and JSSDF to the point where if given the right pretext they'd be more than happy to attack Tokyo-3 if the regiment was unavailable or went rogue. After all, Kayabuki's the only one actually in on it, from SEELE's perspective, and while the regiment is very likely to follow her lead if she obeys an order to take NERV by force, Kudo isn't part of the conspiracy and so might hesitate."

"That's, that's really, really twisted," Misato remarked. "And paranoid."

"SEELE has not survived this long for nothing," Amanda said. "And assuming Japan isn't willing to pull the trigger, there are even bigger guns waiting in the wings."

"America."

Amanda nodded. "I don't know the full details, but the US supposedly has a rapid reaction force specifically geared towards moving against NERV-Tokyo, and they'd have even less reason for restraint."

"SEELE really does cover its bases." Misato cracked a smile. "Good thing you've got them so blindsided."

"Thanks," Amanda said dryly. "Now, was there anything else, or were you going to actually get some work done while mooching off my coffee?"

Misato chuckled. "Alright, alright, I'll get started on that paperwork. At least I'm not as bad as Kayabuki about filing them though."

That Amanda had to concede even as she plotted how to change that.

* * *

"Good morning Professor."

Franklin looked up and smiled at the woman that entered. "Good morning Frederica. You're here even earlier than usual."

"The same could be said for you sir, did you even get any sleep last night?"

"Some. A few hours, enough, I assure you."

Frederica sighed and shook her head. "You are absolutely incorrigible. Please try to remember that you're not as young as you were sir."

"No, I suppose I'm not," Franklin said. "Though to be honest I'm only in this early to make sure I have all the facts straight before the Japanese prime minster calls."

Frederica frowned. "Sir?"

Franklin gestured to the packet on his desk. "I have it on good authority that I'll be seeing some lobbying by the Japanese government for support in case they get called to account by the Security Council for their T-RIDEN-T project."

Frederica pursed her lips. "I'm afraid I've only had a cursory look at the issue."

"Well have a seat," Franklin said. "This little dustup has the potential to become a full blown international incident and that's something my vice president should know about."

"Yes sir," Frederica said with a nod as she accepted the invitation.

"What do you know already?" Franklin asked.

"The project is some sort of bipedal walker the JSSDF has been developing, entirely separate from that Jet Alone thing that nearly exploded at its demonstration," Frederica said. "Beyond its supposed capabilities it did not stand out much, save for the JSSDF's usage of children as pilots."

"Indeed. Bad enough that we're forcing children to fight against those eldritch monstrosities, but when we're staring extinction in the face desperation can force us to extremely unpalatable compromises."

Frederica nodded unhappily. "But that's not the JSSDF's rationale for employing pilots, they're doing it because they expect a war in the near future and they want pilots that are at optimal ages for combat."

"I see you are familiar with the key points," Franklin said with a slight smile.

"Even a cursory look should provide that much sir," Frederica responded with one of her own.

"Quite. And what you've described is bad enough, but it's this, Operation Honeypot, that they were planning for one of their trainees, that is eliciting some very strong emotions."

Frederica's own eyes narrowed. "Honeypot, sir?"

The president nodded. "You've read the CIA's profile of the EVA pilots. What do you make of Shinji Ikari?"

Anyone who knew Frederica agreed that she was an extremely intelligent and capable woman. Her mind was easily able to connect disparate pieces to form larger pictures and she reached the natural endpoint of this line of questioning almost immediately.

"I see," Frederica said calmly.

Franklin regarded the woman and noted the subtle glint in her eyes. He had chosen his running mate not simply because having a woman provided a boost at the ballot box, but because Frederica was a woman of immense inner strength and integrity. She was also usually composed in any situation, but that did not mean she felt nothing. In fact the fury she must now be feeling was most definitely inversely proportional to the calm façade she now presented.

"What do you intend to do about it, Mr. President?" Frederica asked.

"What my heart tells me," Franklin said honestly, uncorking the bottle of scotch on his desk and pouring himself a glass. "I expect though that my conversation with the prime minister will require much patience to endure."

Frederica offered a motherly smile. "Are you sure drinking will help with maintaining that patience sir?"

"Your husband certainly seems to manage it."

Frederica chuckled. "Not all livers are created equal, sir."

"I suppose not," Franklin said as he poured a second glass. "Still, keep an old man company before the day's mayhem starts. And maybe after I retire we'll find out just which of us can hold our liquor better between myself and Yang."

Frederica smiled and accepted the tumbler. After a token toast she took a sip. If nothing else the president had an excellent palette for drinks.

* * *

"I've spoken with all of our allies and the response has been effectively unequivocal. They are extremely uncomfortable with the reports about the injuries sustained by the pilot trainee but the point where they have expressed the most outrage is on the plan to use one of the trainees to try to seduce the Third Child and extract intelligence from him."

"That plan was never carried out," Suzaku stated.

"That does not change the fact that it was conceived to begin with," the prime minister growled. "In fact it is not just the international community that is expressing distaste for such, treatment, of minors, there is rumbling within the Home Ministry about whether this may violate our own laws."

Suzaku frowned. "That is not part of their remit."

"And trying to plant a honeypot on an adolescent boy was somehow yours?" the prime minister spat out. "You've made some powerful enemies, Suzaku, and my ability to protect you is being severely constrained. The notion of the military meddling with domestic affairs sets many on edge."

"Begging your pardon sir, but even if NERV is on Japanese soil it is something of a special case," Suzaku persisted.

"Maybe, but that's not your call to make," the prime minister countered. "That is a policy decision and if the government decides that matters involving NERV should be handled by domestic facing agencies you are expected to follow that decision regardless of whether you agree with it or not or resign. Am I clear?"

Suzaku responded with a curt nod, likely deciding that discretion was the better option here.

"Good. For now keep your men in check and don't try to antagonize the UN any more than you have. If it comes down to a Security Council session and Kirishima gets called to testify about what was asked of her, I guarantee you that the damage will not be limited to merely our international standing."

Another nod from the general. With a wave the prime minister dismissed Suzaku who vacated the room after a proper albeit stiff bow. The general wasted little time returning to the JSSDF's main campus and assembled his most trusted officers for a meeting.

"If Kirishima testifies," Colonel Hirokawa repeated after the general finished relaying the prime minister's words. "But what if she is not available to testify?"

The other officers all looked at the colonel but tellingly none looked particularly shocked. In fact some had downright thoughtful expressions on their faces.

"You have a thought, colonel?" Suzaku said.

"Simply that much of the moral outrage has been focused on the intended use for Kirishima. Remove that focal point and our enemies would need to pivot, expending time and perhaps sufficient energy so as to allow us to lessen the final blow."

"But they managed to get a lot of the records," another officer pointed out. "Don't they have all the memos that were generated during the planning process?"

"They have some," Hirokawa conceded, "and there is always the risk of turning Kirishima into a martyr. But if handled properly we could work all this to our advantage. Pin Kirishima's death on the UN for having taken her away from us while we were providing her with treatment, for example."

Again more thoughtful looks.

"This cannot be traced back to us," Suzaku stated. "We cannot know anything."

Hirokawa nodded, acknowledging the unspoken order. He would need to handle this himself to ensure plausible deniability. If he succeeded, the JSSDF might emerge the stronger for it. If he failed, at least the rest of the force could continue on its task of strengthening Japan and preparing it for a greater role on the world stage.

* * *

Lunch today saw the group Asuka termed the three stooges join them. Whatever the redhead's prejudices Mana was glad to finally have a chance to talk to Shinji. Of course with the other boys there it took all of five minutes for Kensuke to blab and the open secret about the pilots to be exposed. Asuka of course rounded on the boy who was at least wise enough to pretend to be apologetic about the whole thing.

"What's it like piloting an EVA?" Canon asked.

"It's, mostly intuitive," Shinji said. "I think about what I want to do and the EVA responds. Kind of like it's my own body."

"The EVAs synchronize with us so they literally become extensions of our own body," Asuka added more precisely. "When we're in an EVA, every step we take is as if our own bodies are the ones doing the walking. When we pick something up, we can feel it in our hands."

"Do you feel everything?" Mana asked.

Asuka nodded. "Even the pain. Which you would think would be an incentive to not get hurt, but the baka here keeps ending up in the hospital."

"Do you really get hurt that often Shinji-kun?" Mana asked, leaning towards the boy a bit.

Surprisingly Shinji did not retreat and simply smiled wirily. "I suppose Asuka has a point, I do seem to have ended up there more often than the others. And sorry about dragging you there as well."

Asuka sniffed but her reprimand was relatively subdued. "So long as you recognize your mistakes."

"Like an old married couple," Tatsumiya whispered to Mana.

The girl found that she could not argue with that observation.

"So have all of you adjusted to the school yet?" Hikari asked.

"Yes," Mana said with a nervous chuckle. "The coursework is moving, very quickly though."

Her two friends nodded in agreement. The last two years spent training for the Tridents had seen their formal education compacted even if it was not completely excised.

"I may need to take up your offer of help," Mana added.

"Of course," Hikari assured her. "Oh, but next week we're re-sitting the the exams that got canceled by the last Angel attack so that should give all of you a chance to do some catch up work."

"I heard about that attack," Mana said. "The Angel was dropping things down onto us from space?"

Shinji nodded. "It was closest to Tokyo-3 so we were the first to get hit. We managed to shoot down most of the pieces and Asuka caught the only one that made it through."

The redhead smiled proudly at the mention of her achievement.

"But the other NERV sites were attacked as well right?" Kensuke said excitedly.

"Yeah," Shinji said, "though I wasn't told much about that."

"The Angel went after all the sites with EVAs at them, or that's what Misato told me," Asuka explained. "I ended up talking with Mari and this other pilot, Maria, about how to use their AT-fields to stop the pieces from hitting the ground."

"So there are other EVAs not here in Tokyo?" Mana asked.

The German girl nodded. "Unit 05's still at Berlin, don't know what's keeping it, and Unit 04's in the US at the Second Branch. I think there's at least one other EVA being built in the US but they probably don't have a pilot for it yet."

"Really?" Kensuke said, a glint reflecting off his glasses.

Asuka snorted. "In your dreams stooge. You really think you have a shot at becoming a pilot?"

"And why not?" Kensuke protested. "Do _you_ know the criteria they use to select pilots?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't qualify either way."

"Hah, so since you don't know you're just pulling stuff out of your ass!"

"What did you say!?"

"Enough," Hikari said, injecting herself between the two. "Let's try to spend one lunchtime actually enjoying our food instead of spitting it at each other."

Asuka exchanged glares with Kensuke before looking away with a huff but the two at least did not resume their fight. Instead the girl's attention seemed to get drawn to Mana's own meal.

"Food from the cafeteria again?" she remarked.

"Uh, yes!" Mana said quickly before sticking out a tongue sheepishly. "It really is convenient, and the food is surprisingly healthy and tasty, which surprised me a lot."

Asuka raised an eyebrow as if that assessment meant something to her but seemed to decide not to press the issue.

"There were transfer students in the other classes as well," Hikari said. "Are you friends with any of them?"

The three girls exchanged looks and shrugged, leaving it to Mana to respond.

"Umm, I know all of them, but Musashi-kun is probably the only one that I've talked with before."

"Well you could invite him to join us for lunch," Hikari said. "What about you, Tatsumiya-san, Hazama-san?"

The other two girls shook their heads.

"The other students that I knew more closely besides Kirishima-san and Canon-san transferred to different schools."

"Ah, that's a shame."

"One of thems been causing a bit of trouble though," Toji remarked offhandedly.

That caught Mana's attention. "What?"

"One of the transfer students, guy with messy hair and darkish eyes, he's been real moody since transferring in," Toji elaborated. "Doesn't seem to want any friends and keeps mutterin' to himself all the time."

Mana grimaced. "That does sound like Asuka-san."

The redhead's gaze immediately snapped to the girl. "Excuse me?"

"Ah, sorry," Mana said hurriedly. "Asuka Shinn-san is another, student, from our old school. He's, always been temperamental."

"Well hopefully he learns to behave," Hikari said. "The school may be tolerant and flexible in some ways, but the gods help you if the principal decides you're a genuine disruption to learning."

"I've only ever met her once," Shinji said. "She seemed, strict."

"You mean she doesn't tolerate nonsense," Asuka countered. "I liked her."

The boy chuckled. "Even after your first report card?"

The girl shot him a look but simply settled for sticking her tongue out at the boy. It was all a very natural exchange from what Mana could tell. Whoever wrote that profile on the Third Child claiming he was an insecure boy that would crumble when women paid attention to him was, Mana was coming to the conclusion, an idiot. And that was just fine with her.

End of Chapter 21

I may need to reevaluate the number of chapters the Kirishima scenario gets. Note that the main reason the Yamagishi scenario went on for as long as it did was because for quite a few chapters it was playing a secondary role. Only in the last two or three chapters did Yamagishi herself take center stage. With the Kirishima scenario, the scenario itself becomes the main component of the plot. At the same time there are multiple elements to that scenario, primary, secondary, even tertiary threads that get woven into the greater scenario. This chapter is primarily intended to set the stage for all those threads and at least some of the intended developments should be becoming evident. It's also one reason why Mana herself doesn't show up that much this chapter. Rest assured that Mana herself will be getting more screen time in the coming chapters, though if we are counting she is present in over a quarter of the scenes. The slice of life stuff will be coming in the following chapters. Before things go to hell.

It's a calculated risk at this point for the sidesteppers to let Mana close to Shinji. Well, that and it was part of their agreement with Kayabuki to let the two at least have contact and establish some sort of relationship. As Amanda said, the sidesteppers have both a large picture reason for doing all this, plus a personal one. Make of that what you will.

Anyway, regarding what happened all the way back when Soren first fought the Alpha-Orange, Soren actually is that good of a shot without needing to pull tricks with an AT-field. What he was doing was basically using the bullets he fired as vectors to affect the Alpha-Orange's AT-field. How he did it at that point I left ambiguous but it's a moot point by now since I'm pretty sure in chapter 19 I showed him using an AT-field to defend against an energy attack from Alpha-Orange. What I did not do was make any mention of the pattern detected and I'm going to continue leaving that ambiguous.

Lots more borrowed characters added in. Everyone who's been given a name this chapter I'm borrowing in some way shape or form. Pretty sure I am at any rate. Don't worry, at the end of all this I'm going to be providing my own list. Also, MIDORI Kayabuki. No a at the end of her first name.

Drop a review and let me know what you all think.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Subito

When Monday came Mana could not quite remember the last time she was actually looking forward to the new week like she did today. Perhaps it was to do with the oh so normal life she was currently living, or perhaps it was to do with the new friends she was making at school. Either way she was actually enjoying herself instead of straining to keep up with the impossible demands placed upon her.

"Good morning Kirishima-san," Hikari greeted.

"Good morning class rep," Mana replied cheerfully, favoring the girl's widely used title and defacto nickname. "Morning, Shinji-kun."

"Good morning Kirishima-san," Shinji said with a tilt of his head.

Mana frowned. The boy seemed remarkably subdued even for his otherwise laid back attitude.

"Is something the matter?" she said as she drifted over to his side.

"Umm, not really," the boy said with a strained smile. "We, have to retake exams today."

The girl mouthed an ah of comprehension before giving the boy an encouraging smile and pat on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," she said.

"Thanks," Shinji said with a slight smile of his own.

"Busy at work already huh Casanova," Toji remarked dryly.

"Knock it off Toji," Shinji said halfheartedly.

"That's right Toji," Hikari said, appearing suddenly behind the boy and causing him to start. "Ikari-kun is much too well behaved for such shameless behavior."

Toji laughed nervously, knowing better than to rile his girlfriend up any further. She might start deigning to notice his grades and carry out her threat of kicking him out of the class chatrooms after all.

"Well we'll see you at lunch then," Mana said as she and Canon split off.

Hikari smiled and waved for the others before they headed to class. The other two girls proceeded to the library where they would have self-study until the exams were over. Soon enough all six of the trainees that had been transferred to the school arrived. While Shinn continued to look sullen, the others all greeted Mana and Canon as they each arrived.

"Is it my imagination, or is the coursework here way advanced?" Musashi commented.

"It's not your imagination," Tatsumiya said. "This place seems to be running some sort of accelerated curriculum, at least in the maths and sciences."

"Yeah, history is kind of a joke," Musashi agreed. "But their math course is just plain nuts. I mean, linear algebra? Isn't that university level?"

"Maybe, but they're teaching it to us anyway," Mana said. "Look at it this way, it's an opportunity we've been given to get ahead."

"We were already given an opportunity," Shinn suddenly uttered. "And now we're wasting time here with this nonsense."

The others glanced at the boy with resigned exasperation. Of all of the trainees Shinn remained the most enthusiastic about piloting, not least because he had the highest simulator scores of all of them. Simultaneously however he actually had the fewest hours clocked in an actual Trident, which explained why he suffered almost none of the internal injuries the other trainees had.

"Anway, we should probably review the coursework," Mana said. "The teacher put together a few problem sheets that covers material we should know so we don't get lost in the current units. Which one should we do today?"

"Might as well do the math one," Tatsumiya said with a slight smile, "since that seems to be what everyone is having trouble with."

The other students pulled out their own packets though Shinn stayed off to the side and pretended to ignore everyone. Mana sighed.

"Asuka-san," she said, "whatever you think about all this right now we were placed in this school for a reason and we're expected to study. Or do you want to explain to Colonel Kayabuki why you're slacking off?"

The appeal to marital authority seemed to finally get to the boy and he grudgingly moved to join the others. Musashi for one did not seem terribly enthused with having him do so but Mana did not like the thought of just leaving him to stew like that. And despite everything, Shinn was still one of them. Even if he could be a self-righteous jerk at times.

"Let's see, math," Tatsumiya said as she flipped through the packet. "Looks like mostly basic algebra problems. And, some trigonometry. Wait, what's this?"

"What's what?" Musashi asked.

"Page twelve," Tatsumiya clarified. "They're asking us to, derive the law of cosines? What?"

The others quickly flipped to that page and looked it over.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Musashi demanded for all of them. "Seriously, what's with this school's coursework?"

Mana scratched her head. A part of her was tempted to try asking Hikari or even Asuka for help with this, but the others had their own exams to worry about and it did not seem fair to do so. But they would need to get help from somewhere seeing as they did not even know how to begin. Just as the six were pondering their predicament the door opened and in walked a stern looking woman. All of the trainees, even Shinn, shot to attention.

"Orimura-sensei!" Mana blurted out.

The eagle-eyed woman gave all of them apprising looks. "No need to stand at attention, I'm not in the SDF anymore."

"Uh, yes ma'am!" Mana said, trying to figure out just how one was supposed to relax before a discharged JSDF captain.

"Due to the timing of your transfers having you sit the current term exams would have been pointless," the woman stated bluntly. "As such it was determined by myself and the subject instructors that during exam week all of you would undergo an intensive remedial course that will catch you up so that you can understand the materials in the upcoming term. Today is mathematics and I will be drilling you on the material."

"You, ma'am?" Musashi said dumbly.

"Yes, me." Orimura-sensei leaned over to face Musashi directly. "Is there a problem, Strasberg-san?"

"No ma'am!" the boy quickly assured her.

"I thought not. Then we shall begin with a brief review of algebra. If you have questions, ask them now instead of wasting your own time being confused when we move onto trigonometry."

And thus the morning proceded with the school's principal giving a crash course lecture on mathematics. When lunch arrived Mana and her friends looked as exhausted as Shinji and the others.

* * *

As the pilots headed for NERV after school Asuka was surprisingly subdued, contemplating something or another. Not wanting to disturb her thoughts Shinji left her alone and instead made some small talk with Rei. The other girl was responding more and more to his prompts and even had some of her own. Today though Shinji's concerns were a bit focused on the present trials he was facing.

"-and so I got a negative energy in the final result," Shinji said. "Is that right?"

"A negative energy in a chemical equation is indicative of waste heat being generated," Rei said. "For that problem there was indeed an excess of energy left over after the reaction, so your answer is at least of the correct magnitude."

"Oh, phew, I thought I had screwed that up. Thanks Rei, I spent all lunch trying to figure out if I did anything wrong."

Rei tilted her head with a slight smile. "You are welcome."

"That's it!"

The two pilots looked up at the redhead leading the way.

"What's it?" Shinji asked.

"Their lunches," Asuka said. "They've been bringing food from their so-called cafeteria all week long, and that's the key!"

Both Shinji and Rei tilted their heads in confusion.

"Key to what?" Shinji asked.

"To what-to where all those transfer students came from!" Asuka said. "Tell me you don't find it at least somewhat suspicious that all of them suddenly showed up like that?"

"Kirishima-san said that there was a problem with their old school," Shinji said.

"Hah, and you believe her?"

The boy shrugged. "Why shouldn't I?"

Asuka shook her head. "Still naïve to the ways of the world I see. Tell me, have you seen the menus for lunch at NERV for the past few days?"

"Not really," Shinji said, but he caught on quickly enough. "Are you saying Kirishima-san and the others are getting their food from the NERV cafeteria, and so have some relationship to NERV?"

"I'm positive," Asuka said. "The question is why though. Unless they're all pilot candidates for that other EVA in the US?"

Shinji thought it over. "The Americans have one pilot already, why would they need Japan to come up with another one? And besides, Kirishima-san and the others asked some pretty basic questions about NERV and the EVAs. If they were really pilot candidates, shouldn't they know a bit more?"

"Did you know anything before you jumped into the entry plug?" Asuka asked, eyebrow raised.

Shinji's mouth opened but the boy found he could not dispute that. "Point. But would Amanda-san really let something like that happen again?"

"No, no she wouldn't," Asuka said as she swiped her ID card to get past the checkpoint. "And she would also be the one that would know exactly what's going on."

Ten minutes later the trio were in Amanda's office for just that, or at east Asuka was. Shinji and Rei were simply bystanders swept up in the girl's wake.

"So, who are they?" Asuka demanded, hands planted on the desk.

Amanda looked at her protégé with a mildly confused expression. "Who are who?"

"Those transfer students," Asuka clarified. "They all showed up the same day and all have lunch that's straight from NERV's cafeteria? And we weren't supposed to find that suspicious?"

The auditor raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, yes. What on earth prompted you to pay attention to their lunches?"

"Call it curiosity," Asuka said. "So? Who are they? Pilot candidates for that other EVA in the States?"

"No," Amanda said with a shake of her head. "It's a UN matter, they're not affiliated with NERV in any way."

"A UN matter?"

"That's right, so it has nothing to do with you three directly," Amanda said.

The girl's eyebrow twitched. "Nothing to do with us."

Amanda snorted. "Directly to do with you. Right now the UN's investigating something and all of them are witnesses. We've placed them in Tokyo-3 for their protection and I would appreciate it if you do not interfere with the investigation."

"So in other words you're not going to tell me," Asuka said with a huff.

"Asuka, there are things in this world that do not need you poking your nose in them. This is one of them, and if you do end up making my job harder, I WILL read you the riot act and I'll have Soren do it as well."

It was sometimes hard to remember that there were people Asuka respected enough to obey, people that she respected enough to actually take their admonishments to heart. One reason Amanda and Soren were amongst them was because whenever they did put their foot down, they had very good reasons to do so. That did not mean Asuka did not remain curious during such incidents and at least once she regretted finding out after the fact just why her mentors had kept her away from an issue.

"Alright," the girl said reluctantly. "But they are my classmates now, so whatever you're doing, it better not hurt them."

Amanda's eyes narrowed. "You know I would never do that Asuka."

The redhead nodded, satisfied, before taking her leave. Rei and Shinji bowed before following suit, the boy's a bit more apologetic. Amanda sighed, both impressed and a tad appalled at the younger girl's attention to detail. They would need to handle this whole affair much more delicately to avoid the pilots getting burned, Shinji especially. The objective this time around was to extract Mana and the other trainees after all, not try to get Shinji to hook up with the girl. Amanda sighed and turned her attention back to her papers. Said investigation was still underway after all.

* * *

"So tired," Mana muttered as she slumped over the table.

The second day of their intensive drilling had ended and about the only good thing she could say for it was that they were done with math. Orimura-sensei knew what she was doing at least and the equations and theorems played back in the girl's head with surprising clarity. For now, at least.

"Afternoon Kirishima-san," a familiar voice said.

Mana looked up to see Hikari and the others standing about in the library.

"Oh, class rep," the girl said, picking herself up. "Done with exams for the day?"

The girl nodded. "We were going to get some food to celebrate, you're all welcome to join us."

"Oh, that'd be great," Mana said. "Y'all coming?"

Most of the others nodded, most save Shinn.

"I'm headed back to base," he said instead and took his leave.

"What's up his ass," Toji remarked.

"Toji," Hikari admonished.

"It's alright," Mana assured the girl. "Shinn-san's been, moody ever since our transfer. I don't think he's gotten used to it all yet."

"What'd he mean by base?" Kensuke inquired, his curiosity piqued by the strange wording.

Mana sighed. Leave it to Shinn to potentially blow their cover and leave it to Kensuke, the military otaku, to pick up on those little mistakes.

"Nothing," Musashi said. "He treats our dorms like our base here."

It was a barely plausible explanation but without anyone contradicting him Kensuke had little choice but to accept it for now. Asuka for some reason however had a knowing look on her face, as if something had been confirmed for her. Having spent some time around the girl Mana would not be surprised in the least if she had at least put together some pieces about her new classmates. The girl's intuition was frighteningly sharp at times.

"Where are we headed?" Canon asked, completing the diversion back to a safe topic.

"Well, there's a nice little café in the city that serves really good cakes," Hikari said.

Mana perked up noticeably at that, as did Canon and Tatsumiya. Few were the girls that did not love sweets. Their enthusiasum must have been infectious however as even Musashi and the other trainee seemed interested.

"Asuka-san and Shinji-kun got some coupons from Reimer-san," Hikari continued, "and invited all of us along."

Mana's attention now shifted to the boy who simply smiled sheepishly. "I wouldn't normally visit that kind of shop, but it felt like a good opportunity to go with some friends."

"That's right," Asuka said more proudly.

"Asuka on the other hand would have kept them for herself," Shinji suddenly said with a smirk.

"Hey!" the girl protested.

The Third Child was just a step too slow and suddenly found himself subjected to a headlock by the redhead, who proceeded to mercilessly grind her fist over his head.

"Ow! Asuka stop! Ow! I give! I give!"

The others burst out in laughter at the sight and Mana fought hard to keep from shedding tears. The scene was so surreal, yet it still seemed completely natural. There was no doubt that the Second and Third Children were close, perhaps even closer than they themselves realized. Asuka certainly seemed to feel no shame or embarrassment at her conduct as she dropped the boy. Mana suddenly felt a great urge to further fan the flames. Walking over, she gently patted the boy as he nursed his head.

"Thank you very much Shinji-kun," she said sweetly.

"Uh, of course, Kirishima-san," Shinji said, his pain momentarily forgotten at the sight of that bright smile.

The sudden pressure that pressed upon him from behind quickly reminded him of it.

"Um, let's get going!" he said, making a hurried retreat out the library.

"Dude's gonna have his own harem at this rate," Mana caught Toji muttering.

She was not the only one if the sudden jump by the boy was any indication. The pen in Hikari's hand was certainly not responsible, assuming one fell for the perfectly innocent smile on her face. Though if the barely audible growl from Musashi was any indication the class rep was not the only one that did not appreciate the jib.

The group that eventually headed towards to the café was not inconsiderable to the point where Shinji idly wondered whether they would be able to get enough seats. Fortunately upon arrival at the Ahnenerbe café another large group happened to be leaving, providing the space for the newcomers.

"Ah nen e ru be," Mana pronounced the foreign word. "What does it mean?"

"It's German," Asuka informed them. "It means ancestor's heritage."

"Oh, that's a rather quaint name for a coffee shop," Hikari commented.

"It's supposed to have really good desserts," Asuka said. "Here, check it out, pies, cakes, huh, they even have regular food. Wow, this place's menu is pretty impressive."

"What are you thinking of getting, Asuka-san?" Hikari asked.

"Let's see, I think I'll try a slice of raspberry pie. What about you Rei?"

The other girl spent a few minutes carefully eyeing the menu before putting it down.

"The strawberry pie," she said quietly but firmly.

"Good eye," Asuka said, glancing at the entry in her own menu. "Everyone else figure out what they want?"

Nods and shakes of head both answered the girl and so she settled back to wait.

"Umm, these all look tasty," Mana said as she stared intently at the menu. "Shinji-kun, what are you thinking of getting?"

"I was thinking the cheesecake," Shinji said. "Reimer-san brought some over one time and it was great, I think it might have been from here."

"Alright, then I'll get that too," Mana said. "What about you Musashi?"

"Huh? Uh, I think I'll go with the meat pie," the boy said quickly, trying to look like he was not glaring at the Third Child.

With everyone's minds made up Asuka waved and a girl about their age in a waitress uniform and a pair of long pigtails trotted over.

"Welcome to Ahnenerbe," she said, actually properly pronouncing the German word. "Is this the first time for all of you?"

"Yeah, but we were recommended by some friends," Asuka said.

"Ah. Well then, have you all decided what you would like?"

Another nod and each of the students rattled off their order along with a drink.

"Excuse me, but do you also do take-away?" Hikari asked when it was her turn.

"Of course," the girl replied with a nod.

"Okay then, in that case I'd like four servings of your curry to go, with the calamari toppings."

"Would you also like the salad side with that?"

Hikari nodded. "Yes please."

"Very good. Anything else?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Shinji said as he looked over the menu again. "How about it Asuka, Ayanami? We can buy dinner here and take it home to reheat."

"No problem," Asuka said before casting a glance at Rei. "You do have vegetarian dishes as well, right?"

"Indeed," the girl said. "May I recommend the mushroom pasta?"

"That work Rei?" Asuka asked.

The other girl nodded.

"Alright, we'll take that, and I'll get the pork curry, both to go."

"Very well. And you sir?"

"I'll have the fish and chips," Shinji said, "also to go."

"An excellent choice. Will that be all? Alright, please wait a moment and I will have your orders ready."

After the girl was away Shinji spoke. "Don't worry about any of the dishes, it'll be my treat today."

"You can't do that Ikari-kun," Hikari protested.

"Yeah, what's the idea of treating my girl?" Toji added in.

Asuka snorted before anyone else could interject. "Just let the baka do what he wants. He's probably itching to do something with the millions sitting in his bank account."

The initial surprise at Shinji's generosity now turned into something else entirely as his classmates stared at him with wide eyes.

"Shinji," Kensuke crocked. "Millions?"

"We get a stipend for piloting the EVAs," Shinji said quickly. "I don't really have much to spend on, so it's just kind of been sitting there. So treating you all today isn't much, really."

Toji let out a bark of laughter and slapped his friend on the back. "You dog, you tryin' ta make us look even badder?"

"Toji," Hikari admonished before offering Shinji a smile. "Thank you very much, Ikari-kun."

"But wait, you said that you get the stipend for piloting the EVA, which means that Shikinami-san and Ayanami-san should both also get it," Mana said, a mischievous smile crossing her face. "That means both of you two also have millions in the bank, right? So you hardly need to be treated by Shinji-kun."

"It's a boy's duty to treat a girl," Asuka said with a sniff.

Mana let out a burst of laughter at that and after a few moments Asuka even joined in. Hikari's was more subdued and before long almost all of them, boys and girls, were laughing. Even Rei cracked a smile.

"Well either way, I appreciate it Shinji-kun," Mana said after finally settling down.

"It's nothing Kirishima-san," Shinji assured her.

"Mana."

The boy blinked.

"Consider it my way of showing thanks," the girl said. "So just call me Mana."

"Umm, okay, Mana-san," Shinji said, his face reddening ever so slightly.

Even as the two looked at each other an eyebrow was rapidly rising on another girl's face while the grinding of teeth by another boy was just out of the audible range. The looks on almost everyone else's faces could be termed amusement. A love triangle was more fun to watch than be in after all.

* * *

"Why are you looking so chipper?" Amanda asked as she entered the room.

Hayashima and Kayabuki were already present and seated and it was to the latter that the question was directed.

"Oh, just reflecting on the successes of my little sister," Kayabuki said, wide grin still plastered over her face. "Mana was smiling a lot when she got back today."

Amanda shook her head ruefully. Nothing serious was likely to develop, not least because Shinji himself was unlikely to be very interested in any overtures right now, but that did not seem to bother the colonel much. Still, better safe than sorry as Amanda considered nudging her own protégé along. That thought nearly elicited a giggle from the brunette herself. Who knew it was so much fun meddling with the love life of her charge?

"Let's get started with what we're all really here for," Amanda said as she took a seat. "Doctor, how are the kids?"

"The majority of the trainees are doing well," Hayashima said. "Most of them are adjusting nicely to the transition and even seem to be enjoying the return to normalcy that school represents, mild grumbling about the homework aside."

"Most implies not all, doctor," Amanda said.

Hayashima nodded. "Asuka Shinn. From all indications he's the most adept at piloting the Trident. At the same time he's spent the least amount of time actually in one and so does not suffer many of the same internal injuries the others do. Indications are the JSSDF was grooming him, to perhaps be a pilot for a second generation Trident, one that did not suffer the same design flaws."

"And so he doesn't share the same concern about the program as the others," Amanda said before glancing over at Kayabuki. "Any problems with him yet?"

The colonel shook her head. "Dojo's keeping an eye on him and so far he's behaved. He's also stopped grumbling after the lieutenant told him to stop whining. If nothing else he seems to respond to and want approval from authority."

"Might explain why he seems less inclined to want to believe the JSSDF was abusing or using him," Amanda said. "We should keep a close eye on him nonetheless."

The other two women nodded. The three were holding a meeting at Valhalla Base, Amanda wanting to keep this as restricted to the UN as possible. Hayashima technically was part of NERV but some creative paperwork shuffling had seen her remit expanded to include the personnel stationed at the base, at least for the interim of the investigation.

"Mana-san has however been very forthcoming," Hayashima said. "I've made sure to keep separate the therapy sessions from investigation testimonies so there should be no issue regarding the appropriateness of any evidence you submit."

"Good," Amanda said with a nod before cocking her head to the side. "How in the world are you finding the time to do all this anyway?"

"The same way you are," Hayashima said dryly. "Four hours of sleep may not be enough for normal humans, but we have a few advantages, don't we?"

That they did, though even then there wer limits to how far they could push. The real reason Soren spent so much time at home was not because he was lazy after all, the extra sleep that he snuck in so often was literally him recovering from the times he had been forced to forego it.

"So, any sign of our buddies in the JSSDF preparing a response?" Kayabuki asked.

"Some," Amanda said, trying not to dwell on her own creeping tiredness. "It's pretty obvious whatever they're going to try will be through some sort of cutout, probably criminal in nature. The right-wing political elements historically have had ties to organized crime after all."

"Should I be boosting security for the kids?" Kayabuki asked.

That was a good question. Being too obvious about it would simply force the JSSDF to escalate too quickly, whereas if they were careless than one of the kids might end up getting hurt or worse.

"You have two squads trailing them right now, right?" Amanda asked.

Kayabuki nodded. "They've been heading back to base right away after school finishes and none of them have joined any clubs yet so they return as a group. That's not going to last though."

"No, it's not," Amanda agreed. "Mana, well, both Manas, and Canon seem to be getting pretty friendly with Shinji's circle of friends. In theory that would mean if they do end up hanging out after school, it would be with that group. And if any of the Children are present, then their Section-2 detachments would also be watching over them."

"True, but what happens if they're just hanging out with their classmates?" Kayabuki pointed out. "Unless you're going to suddenly assign detachments to cover Hikari-san and the boys?"

"Tempting, but no," Amanda said. "That'd be a bit too blatant. Shame your troops don't have similar training for tailing targets."

"No, my boys and girls are more of the charge in and shoot 'em up variety."

"And we can't exactly restrict them from social outings," Amanda said, tapping her pen. "What to do."

"What about the police?" Hayashima suggested.

The other two women looked over at her.

"What?" Amanda said.

"You could request that the police put a protective detail in place," Hayashima said. "The MAGI may basically run the city but humans still staff the various services. And the police department's certain to have personnel trained to discretely follow people about."

"Huh," Amanda said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because both of us have spent so much time in the trenches we sometimes forget what civvy life is like," Kayabuki said dryly. "You think you can swing it?"

Amanda nodded. "We only need them around for about a week or two. After that, things will have escalated to the point where we can bring in the big guns to provide protection."

"So long as the prick doesn't try to interfere," Kayabuki said.

Amanda nodded. Based off of the collective's own projections there was a sixty plus percent chance that Commander Ikari might meddle with the investigation, if only to pay back Amanda for her undermining of his authority. Depending on how malicious he was feeling he could even make an overt move against the trainees. They had contingencies in place for that though and seeing as this was an officially sanctioned SEELE operation, him trying to interfere with it was easily grounds for Soren to sanction him. That actually could cause complications all on its own, seeing as other projections required that he live at least until Tabris revealed himself. Why the collective was not entirely sure yet, but for some reason the score required he be alive for their desired outcome.

"Maybe we can buy him off," Amanda said thoughtfully.

"You can't be serious," Kayabuki said.

"If you are thinking of what I think you're thinking, that is a terrible idea," Hayashima said.

"Think about it though," Amanda said. "If we make his obsession with Yui more apparent, it would give us an opportunity to break Ritsuko away from him."

The protests died in their mouths as the other two women took on more thoughtful looks.

"It's still a crappy idea," Kayabuki said after a few moments.

"Agreed," Hayashima said. "It is extremely high risk. Dr. Akagi has quite a few issues and, shocking her like this could cause her to do something rash."

"Like destroy the spares?" Amanda said. "That was already on our agenda."

The two women made noncommittal gestures, indicating they still had reservations. Still they offered no further protests, apparently willing to leave it in Amanda's hands.

"Anyway, I think we have enough material for Ryoji to file a preliminary report," Amanda said. "Doctor, if you could forward your analysis to him?"

Hayashima nodded.

"Then let's call it here. I'll see you ladies tomorrow."

* * *

Unlike the vast majority of people in the world, Shinji was a morning person. That meant he had little difficulty waking up every day at 6AM whether it be weekday or weekend. Rei was similar, leaving Asuka and Misato as the two roommates that were actually capable of appreciating the joy of sleeping in. Today however was Asuka's turn to make breakfast and the girl was not one to shirk her duty so she was already in the kitchen working away.

"Good morning Asuka," Shinji said as he entered.

"Morning," the girl said, her attention focused on the several pots and pans going right now.

With four people, well, five residents, to cook for it was a balance coming up with something that everyone would be happy with. This was less complicated than it might have seemed since Misato's taste buds were very flexible and Shinji very rarely complained much about anything. Rei had the simple requirement of something vegetarian and in fact it was PenPen and Asuka herself that were the pickiest eaters, much to the German girl's chagrin. Still a steady tempo had emerged and by keeping things simple on schooldays it was easy to whip up something quick for breakfast.

"Don't worry about lunch," Asuka said after noticing Shinji staring into the fridge. "I'm making enough so that we'll have leftovers from breakfast."

"Oh, thanks Asuka."

"Just being economical," the girl responded nonchalantly though one eye seemed to follow Shinji's movements. "So you've been getting friendly with that Mana girl."

To his credit Shinji did not miss a beat, instead pulling out a container of iced tea before closing the fridge. "She's a nice girl. I think we could be friends."

"You mean you two aren't already?" Asuka said, scrapping the eggs out of the pan onto three plates.

"Well, we're classmates," Shinji said, "and if she called me a friend I don't really have a reason to deny it."

Asuka regarded the boy, spatula over shoulder as if it were a bat. "That's it?"

"What else could there be?" the boy asked. "I've only known her for about a week."

The redhead considered this thoughtfully. True, she could not really accuse the boy of being fickle. His relationship with Mayumi had after all been the product of at least two months of slowly getting to know each other. The girl shook her head. Why was she even inquiring in the first place? Stupid thoughts, stupid thoughts.

"You better drag Misato's ass out of bed," she said, shifting the conversation. "Food's almost ready."

"Alright," Shinji acquiesced.

That turned out to be easier said than done, his ostensibly responsible guardian having been out drinking with Kaji last night. As it was the boy barely dodged a half-conscious lunge by Misato thanks to his improved reflexes and got the woman up and mostly awake. The smell of food and coffee did the rest and the four were soon munching away at the dining table.

"Oh that reminds me," Misato said after a mouthful of toast. "Sorry about this, but we'll need all three of you on base for most of the day Sunday and afterschool Saturday."

"What for?" Asuka asked, eyes narrowing.

"Ritsuko wants to do some tests and she says that they'll take a while," Misato explained. "Don't worry, Amanda's promised to take you three out to dinner after it's all over."

Asuka huffed. "Who does she think I am, trying to bribe me with food all the time? I'm-"

"She said something about lobsters," Misato interjected.

Asuka remained posed like that for several moments, mouth open mid-sentence with fork pointed at the sky.

"-well it is my duty as a pilot to participate in these tests," Asuka continued without missing a beat. "And I expect no whining from either of you!"

Shinji smiled ruefully but said nothing while Rei did not even deign to react. Well, beyond a very slight smile. It seemed even Rei could find things amusing. He quickly finished breakfast. There were still exams after all to suffer through.

* * *

"Baka Shinji!"

"Shinji-kun! Stop!"

"Ikari-kun!"

The pleas were falling on deaf ears for all the good they did. The boy, no, he was not truly a boy anymore, even if he still had the form of one, charged through the corridor. A soldier tried to get in his way, confident that his greater mass would see the boy smashed into the floor. Shinji never noticed the gurgle of surprise as he tossed the man aside, a sickening thud sounding from the impact of the body.

"Damn it, stop him someone! Don't let him get to the EVA!"

Fools, all of them. Fools, ingrates, dredges of humanity. The hatred burned in Shinji and the only thing in his head was getting to Unit 01. No, not even that. What was truly in his head was to unleash the power of Unit 01. Its ascension was interrupted, yes, but what was interrupted could be resumed. And then this blighted world would be wiped away. Another guard charged him, trying to tackle him. He never even reached the boy before being smashed into the wall.

The cage where Unit 01 was mounted was just head, a scant few meters. The only thing in his way was a blast door, a trivial impediment if it could even be called that. The woman standing before it was, certainly not. Even with her gun pointed at him.

"Shinji-kun, please, stop," she begged.

The eyes that gazed at her were a fiery crimson, ones devoid of the usually serene blue she was so familiar with. The boy did at least come to a halt though, apparently lucid enough to still recognize her. For a moment at least. Shinji took another step forward. Grimacing, Misato adjusted her aim and pulled the trigger. The round never reached the boy, slamming into a prismatic barrier before falling to the floor. Misato never got the chance for a second shot as the blast door behind her tore open. It was doubtful the woman ever knew just what had happened for when the dust settled she was pinned under the metal door. A pool of blood was already forming around her head.

Shinji did not spare a single glance at the fallen form, climbing onto the door and reaching for the giant finger poking through. The hand flexed, widening the gap so it could reach in further. The blood beneath the broken door began pooling more quickly.

* * *

The first ring of the phone was enough to waken Soren and a quick glance told him he had managed all of two hours with his little nap. There was no trace of sleepiness in his voice as he answered however.

"This is Reimer."

"Colonel Reimer, this is Captain Aramaki. The MAGI picked up a van known to be appropriated by the yakuza entering Tokyo-3 ten minutes ago. They appear headed towards the school."

Now that seemed a bit blatant and stupid, Soren mused. "Has my wife given any orders?"

"No sir, but seeing as you are the ranking UN officer I thought you might have some instructions."

That was as good an excuse as any even if it was complete bullshit.

"Alright, forward the van's location to my smartphone, I'll tail the the trainees as they leave school. Make sure my detail is ready to move in if I have to intervene."

"Understood sir. And good luck."

Luck was one of the few things Soren seemed to have ample amounts of seeing as he was still alive today. Today was Saturday, the last of the makeup exams. The pilots would be heading straight NERV after school for Ritsuko's test though thankfully the actual intrusion was not expected until tomorrow. Still, this was somewhat inconvenient timing for the yakuza to be pulling something this stupid. Soren finished dressing with and slid his pistol into his holster. No point complaining about it though, some things they could not control. He made one final check in the mirror to make sure his eyes were their regular blue. Satisfied that nothing had bled through, Soren headed out to the garage. The school was on the other side of the city so he would need to make good time to be in position. How fortunate his car now also had UN plates.

End of Chapter 22

I'm having to play with timing a little bit. The EVA series itself never provided a concrete timeline for events and while I've tried to remain mostly true to it, well, stuff happens.

There's been speculation on what the sidesteppers are, where they came from, etc. We are at the 50/60% point in the story, which means it's about time I start dropping in lots more information about what they are. Believe it or not, the Kirishima scenario offers a very good opportunity to flesh out a little background. The above scene is, pretty much what it looks like. I'm not trying, at all, to make it ambiguous. There are two important bits of information the scene provides, which to be frank I'm not sure will be obvious until more information is available. There is however a lot of additional points that can be inferred beyond the two data points that I consider most important. So have at it.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Emporté

The week long slog of exams and makeup lectures was finally over, the only potential downside being the EVA pilots having to part with their classmates and friends for some kind of intensive test. The pilots might have been paid a great deal but Mana was quickly coming to the conclusion that every penny was worth it if half of what Kensuke kept spouting was true. Besides, the pilots were mostly likeable people, even if Asuka was extremely hauty at times.

"Well, regular classes start next week," Mana said idly as she walked along with her fellow trainees.

"My head," Musashi moaned. "I'm not sure I can take much more of this."

"You'll be fine," Mana said. "If you need help, you can always ask the class rep, she did offer."

"No thanks," Musashi said. "I'd rather not get into a fight with her boyfriend."

Mana sniffed. "And who says that getting her help requires you to flirt with her? Boys. Learn some manners."

"So what do you call what you've been doing with Ikari?" Musashi said glumly.

"What!?" Mana cried at the boy. "What is that supposed to mean!?"

Both Canon and Tatsumiya snickered and the girl switched her gaze to stare at them in disbelief.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Mana protested.

"Who said anything about boyfriend?" Tatsumiya said with a playful smirk.

"Ah-I mean-I-gah!" Mana cried in exasperation.

"Looks like you've still got a chance," Canon said, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder.

Musashi grumbled something inaudible and gazed out at the street. Perhaps that was why he noticed the black van approaching in the opposite direction, a van that seemed to be slowing. His eyes narrowed as his instincts began tingling. Musashi slowed slightly and raised a hand, barring Mana's way.

"Musashi?" Mana asked in confusion.

The boy continued staring at the approaching van, causing the others to do the same. Suddenly the van sped up, swerving off the road and charging towards the adolescents.

"Move!" Musashi cried, pushing Mana out of the way.

The van slammed to a halt and a group of burly men charged out. Without hesitation they reached for Mana but Musashi stepped forth to block their way. The lead gangster sneered and moved to grab the boy. That proved a costly mistake as Musashi grabbed the outstretched arm and twisted it about. The man cried first in surprise and then pain as his arm was dislocated. And then he fell silent as Mana leapt over Musashi, slamming her knee into the man's face. The man dropped like a stone and his compatriots stood rooted in shock at the sudden attack. Their surprise did not last long however as they screamed a challenge and charged to avenge their comrade. The trainees had not been standing idle however and were already on the attack. The initiative was theirs and against large foes they were not about to lose one of their few advantages.

Canon ducked a swing and slid to the side, throwing a kick of her own. Her opponent blocked it but ended up open to a jab from Tatsumiya. There was not enough force in the blow to really hurt the man but that was not the point to begin with. Canon broke off, making a run for it even as she hurriedly pulled out her cellphone and hit the panic number. If her friends could just hold on long enough, help could get here and deal with these attackers.

Mana deftly deflected the series of punches aimed at her, trying to find some angle to land a hit of her own. The men attacking had greater reach than the girl so she needed to move carefully, even with Musashi trying to watch her back. The boy caught a blow aimed at his face, jerking the arm aside before twisting further. This opponent however responded too quickly, shifting his stance to flow with the motion before slamming his other fist against the boy's back. Musashi fought back the pain, throwing himself against the man to try to tackle him to the ground. He was simply too light however and only ended up in the other man's grasp.

"Got ya now ya brat," the man said before tossing Musashi against a building.

"Musashi!" Mana cried.

That moment of distraction proved a moment too long as another man charged and grabbed hold of the girl.

"I've got her!"

The declaration proved premature as Mana slammed her heel against her would-be abductor's foot and sank her teeth into his arm.

"OWWWWWW! You bitch!"

A boom sounded and then another and all engaged in the melee froze. The van shuddered and sank slightly as its rear two tires hissed away their air. The roar of engines was now very audible to all around as two Strykers rounded the corner and skidded to a halt. Guns swerved to even as hatches opened to disgorge the two squadrons of soldiers. Each one wore the colors of the 597th Regiment and had blood in their eyes. Yet it was not them that all eyes fell upon as a single man in a suit stepped forth, pistol in hand. For some reason both the gangsters and the trainees knew immediately that it had been his shots that had taken out the tires of the van. He was the one that everyone now waited to say his piece, the one that everyone knew was actually in charge here.

Soren came to a halt before the thugs and trainees and eyed each of them one by one. His gaze eventually fell on Mana and the man that still had his arm around her.

"I suggest you remove that arm," he said flatly, "least I remove it for you."

The man's arm went flying away from Mana and he even threw himself back away from the girl. Soren held his gaze for a few moments longer, the coldness of his blue eyes seemingly pinning the man to the point where he looked to nearly be hyperventilating. Yet even though his gaze was in Mana's direction the girl felt no pressure or even malice.

By now more men in suits had appeared, Section-2 agents assigned to Soren's protective detail. Even the police were making an appearance, sirens blaring as their cruisers came to a halt.

"Agent," Soren said. "Take these men into custody and hold them at the base. I will have questions for them."

The Section-2 agent nodded. "Understood sir."

Soren walked up to Mana and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Only then did she realize she had been shaking. Soren smiled reassuringly and Mana found herself cracking a slight one of her own.

"Lieutenant Dojo," Soren said to the regimental officer. "I will be escorting the trainees back to base."

Dojo was momentarily confused at the ease with which Soren was issuing orders. Then he recalled just who the man was married to and nodded as well.

"Yes sir." He turned to the trainees. "Follow Reimer-san's orders as if they were my own. Understood?"

"Sir!" the kids said, instinctively snapping to attention.

"This way," Soren said as he holstered his gun.

The kids followed quickly and once around the corner came into sight of Soren's BMW. The German man had to give them some credit, all of them seemed properly appreciative of the car's sleek form.

"Three of you will need to sit in the back," Soren said.

Seizing the initiative Mana ran up to the passenger seat and pushed it forward, standing aside to let her friends in. All three of them gave her questioning looks but the girl stood her ground. Once they were safely in the back she flipped the seat upright again and settled in. Soren himself was already seated and seemed somewhat bemused by the scene. The girl found it hard to not blush at the attention.

"Umm, thank you very much, Reimer-san," Mana said, recalling the name Dojo had used.

"It was no bother," Soren said. "I was on my way to the base anyway."

The girl blinked. "Do you, work there or something?"

Soren chuckled as he started up the car. "Hardly. My wife however is there and asked me to drop off a few things."

That piqued the interest of not just Mana but the others in the back as well.

"Excuse me sir," Tatsumiya said, "but, whom might your wife be? If you do not mind telling us."

"Amanda Sommer," Soren said as car pulled into the street. "You've probably seen her at least once or twice."

Eyes were wide on all of the trainees now as they too began to understand the deference the soldiers had shown the foreigner. If he was truly married to the UN auditor, and they had no reason to believe he was lying, then that explained much. Mana felt herself calm a bit more. She was still shaken by the close call, yet for some reason she knew they were all safe now.

* * *

Kayabuki walked into the room and stepped over to join Soren as he looked through the one-way mirror.

"Yakuza bastard," she nearly spat out.

"Quite," Soren said, sounding considerably more composed but likely feeling far more furious than the regimental colonel. "We have tentative IDs on all of them."

"And?"

"They're members of the Sumiyoshi-kai. Kaji is looking to see if they have any direct connections to the Japan Youth Society, though I'd be amazed if they were that arrogant. Or stupid."

"Who knows," Kayabuki said. "So, what now?"

"Now I ask them some questions," Soren said, checking his pistol. "Recorders are off?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

Without even bothering to holster his gun Soren entered the interrogation room. The man winced ever so slightly as he caught sight of the weapon. His eyes stayed on it as Soren sat down and placed it on the table between them. A slight twitch of muscles betrayed the temptation to try to seize the weapon but the man was no fool. Even if he could kill Soren with the weapon, a very big if, the response from the people on the other side of the mirror would be quickly lethal.

"Who sent you," Soren asked.

The man said nothing, simply glaring at Soren.

"You have a very simple choice here," Soren said. "You can either answer my questions, or I call the corpsmen to save some time before I shoot you."

The man blinked but quickly tried to hide his loss of composure with a scowl. "I have rights. Give me a phone to call my lawyer."

Soren held the man's gaze before shrugging. "Well, I tried." He glanced at the mirror. "Get a corpsman in here."

To the thug's credit he only let his surprise stun him for a moment before lunging for the gun. He was barely out of his seat before a bullet hole appeared in his head. Soren was still looking at the mirror.

"Next?"

The mirror turned transparent, revealing Kayabuki, two of her soldiers, and another yakuza. Said yakuza was looking considerably less sure of himself. And then Soren grinned. Something seemed to catch the attention of the three soldiers and they looked over at their prisoner. Then they looked down, disgust visible on their faces. Soren snorted.

"Get him in here. I don't have all day."

The man had to literally be dragged in and then forced to sit after his former comrade's corpse was hauled out. A pool of blood was still on the table but Soren paid it no mind as he set his pistol down again.

"Now, I ask you the same thing. Who sent you."

In the end it took another threat to shoot the man to shut him up. Ultimately the thug could tell them little, but he did at least reveal the next step in the chain. Soren made sure that his schedule for Monday was clear. He now had a very important appointment to see to in Tokyo-2 after all, assuming they all survived what was about to happen Sunday.

* * *

"And? Why the hell do we have to do this test naked?" an irate redhead demanded.

"Asuka, language," Amanda chided.

Not that Amanda did not understand the girl's reservations but putting up with this kind of stuff was part of their job as pilots.

"Fine," Asuka growled. "Let's get this over with then, the sooner we start the sooner we get out of here. How long is this going to take by the way?"

"A couple of hours," Ritsuko said nonchalantly, unfazed by the girl's ranting. At this point it might as well have been background noise.

"A couple of HOURS!?"

Very loud background noise.

"You'll get breaks in between," Amanda assured the girl. "We're not going to force you three to sit in the simulation plugs for that long."

"No way just lobster is worth this," Asuka said. "I want red king crab. And king salmon. Oh and eel!"

"Fine on the crab and salmon," Amanda said, "no on the eel. They're on the UN banned consumption list."

Asuka puffed her cheeks. "Fine."

"Umm, I don't suppose fugu is available," Shinji suddenly put in.

The request caught almost everyone by surprise and Amanda blinked a few times before responding. "I do not believe it's on the controlled list. I'll see what I can do Shinji."

"Thanks Amanda-san."

"Huh, didn't know Shinji-kun had an interest in exotic seafood," Misato said.

"The bigger problem's going to be finding someone that can prepare it safely," Amanda said, rubbing her forehead.

"Oh? You mean there's something Soren can't cook?" Misato teased.

"How the hell was he supposed to get blowfish in Germany?" Amanda retorted.

"Language," Misato said with tongue stuck out. "Though at the same time, how are you getting any of the stuff Asuka's asking for?"

"There's actually a pretty big discretionary budget for care of the pilots," Amanda said. "It's what I've used for most of their little bonuses."

"Huh," Misato mused. "I never knew that. Any chance I could-"

"No."

"But I haven't-"

"No."

"But you don't-"

"No."

"Fine," Misato pouted. "But I'm coming with them to the dinner party."

"Fine by me," Amanda said with a playful smile before glancing at Ritsuko. "You coming as well?"

"I'll need to process the data from the tests," Ritsuko said, "so probably not."

"Oh c'mon Ritsuko, all you've been doing is work work work," Misato protested. "You need to take some time off to unwind!"

"Not all of us have that luxury Misato," Ritsuko chided her friend.

"This isn't about luxury, this is about what one's life needs," Amanda said. "Too much work can be as detrimental as too much play."

Ritsuko pursed her lips, her suspicion rising once more. She still remembered those stinging words Amanda had laid upon her all those months ago.

"Besides, I'm mandating a day off for everyone involved with this test," Amanda said. "Wouldn't be right otherwise since today is a Sunday."

Murmurs of approval rippled amongst the staff present, further solidifying Amanda's position as someone who understood and respected them.

"How about it Dr. Ibuki," Amanda said, catching the younger woman by surprise. "Care to join us tonight as well?"

"Huh? What? I mean, uh…"

"You can bring Aramaki along as well," Amanda said with a wink.

The pout that appeared was, in a word, adorable. "Sommer-san, again with the teasing."

Amanda chuckled. "Well the offer still stands."

Maya glanced at her mentor and Ritsuko sighed. "You might as well accept, Maya. That way I'll at least have one sane person to keep me company."

A wide smile appeared on the younger woman's face. "Sempai."

Amanda and Misato exchanged smiles of their own though for slightly different reasons. Misato had noticed the distancing of her friend and saw this as the first step closing that distance. For Amanda the invitation was that and also a reward for what was about to turn out to be a most hectic day. For her achievement of defeating the Eleventh Angel almost completely by herself, Ritsuko deserved a bit of downtime.

After a rather lengthy rant from Asuka as she and Rei walked the length from the lockers to the entry plugs where she called all of them perverts and refused to believe the cameras were off (even though they were, not even Ritsuko suggested keeping them on to gather data when Amanda gave Asuka her word they would be kept off), all of the pilots were safely sequestered.

"So what exactly are we testing here?" Misato asked.

"Forgot to read the brief again?" Amanda joked.

"I've been busy," Misato retorted.

"Really? Even though Kaji's been traveling all over the place?"

"Amanda," Misato ground out.

The woman chuckled but answered seriously this time. "Ritsuko's trying to get some baseline values for development of an auto-pilot system for the EVAs."

"Really?" Misato said in surprise. "That's, that's great!"

Amanda half smirked at that. "Well, it's all still experimental at this stage. We're still not sure if it's even possible, hence the tests today."

"But if we can get a working auto-pilot, we won't have to send the Children out to fight the Angels," Misato said. "We can stop risking their lives!"

"That's the theory," Amanda said. "Don't get too excited about this, Misato, until we get a working prototype and it's tested to hell and back nothing is certain."

"True enough," Misato said. "Still, you seem just a tad too pessimistic here."

"We'll see," Amanda said.

"Beginning tests," Maya announced.

The monitors lit up and data and telemetry flowed across them.

"Links are stable," Ritsuko said. "We've got solid connections all around. Begin recording."

"Yes ma'am."

"Plug levels nominal, noise within tolerance."

"Synchronization levels nominal, responses from simulation bodies detected."

And so it went as the initial setup was completed and the pilots began the actual tests. Throughout Amanda waited, just waited, for the klaxons to begin blaring. Instead the test proceeded without interruption, the first run concluding two hours later with the pilots breaking for a shower, toilet runs, and something to eat. By that time Amanda's patience was done and she headed for the command deck. Something was very, very wrong here.

"Agano," Amanda said, causing the woman to start. "Are the pattern sensors online?"

"Yes ma'am," the woman responded after a quick check. "Everything's clear."

That should not have been possible. Amanda considered her options. Without a definitive hit by the sensors there was no way to know just where the Angel was and without that she could hardly order the base to red alert.

"Mogami, how much of the MAGI's compute capacity is being taken up by Dr. Akagi's experiment right now?" she asked.

"Umm, fifteen percent ma'am."

"And how much is idle?"

"Just, a little under forty percent ma'am."

Forty percent, that should be sufficient.

"Route the sensor telemetry through this filters," Amanda said even as she tapped away at a console.

"Ma'am?"

"Just do it," Amanda said, perhaps a bit brusquely.

"Yes ma'am!"

The auditor sighed. "Something's bothering me and I want to make sure we're not jumped by any surprises, especially not with all three pilots busy with these tests."

"Yes ma'am," Aoi said more calmly.

The cooling systems for the MAGI started kicking in as they examined the sensor data with a fine comb, sifting through the readings to try to find any anomalies. They processed not only the current data coming in but also began backtracking through the recorded archives. It was always possible the Angel slipped in and was still laying low after all. Yet no matter how long Amanda waited, no hits were triggered. By the time evening arrived the auditor was starting to feel more than a little paranoid. Ireul should have attacked already, spreading out from the simulation bodies before striking at the MAGI. So where the hell was it?

* * *

"So?"

"So nothing," Amanda said. "Even with the MAGI running its most sensitive filters we didn't see any indication of a breach. At this point it really looks like it's not there."

Klinge pursed her lips thoughtfully. "That seems, unlikely."

"I know, but unless you have some brilliant idea of how it's hiding, I'm coming up with zip," Amanda said. "I even tried feeling for it myself, but nothing."

"Huh. I didn't think that was possible."

"It's not," Soren said, "which means the only conclusion is that the Angel really is not there."

"Well," the general said. "Shit."

The meeting was highly impromptu and discreet with all three of the attendees in separate locations. Soren was busy putting the finishing touches on the evening's dishes while Klinge's workday was just getting started. Amanda's own location was changing moment to moment.

"We're missing something here," Klinge said. "Could alpha-orange be back?"

"No," Soren said immediately.

"Alright, then what are our options?" Klinge asked.

"We keep looking," Soren said. "It might also be a good idea to look through the historical data from previous Angel encounters, especially ones that also did not align with the preplanned scenario."

"The last three or four all deviated," Amanda pointed out.

"Then we check all of them," Soren said. "Slice off idle time from the MAGI and run the sensor data through the filters. If there's a discrepancy, we need to find it."

"Alright, I'll set up the run tonight after the party."

"If need be you could probably also tap NERV-Berlin's MAGI system," Klinge said.

"Maybe," Amanda said, "in fact that might be a good idea. I need to justify the compute time somehow, I could claim that I'm looking for similarities or patterns in the Angels' AT-fields."

"And when Dr. Akagi asks why you're doing this yourself?" Klinge asked, despite having made the initial suggestion.

"Simple, she's too damn busy and the committee asked me for it," Amanda replied.

The general thought it over for a brief moment before nodding. "That'll probably work. Keep me posted on what you find."

"Roger," Amanda said. "Soren, I'll be at the house in thirty."

"Thirty?" her husband said. "Are you on the road now?"

"Of course. Misato's bringing along Ritsuko, Ibuki, and Aramaki and I've got the pilots in my car."

"You're driving right now," Soren said dryly.

"Yeeeeeeeessssssssss."

The man snorted but made no further comment. "I'll see you in thirty."

Amanda allowed herself an actual smirk in the car. Fortunately none of her passengers noticed it.

"Reimer-san, I've finished setting the table," Mana said, drawing Soren's attention from the just concluded chat.

"Thank you Fraulein Kirishima," he said. "You can take a break now, most everything else is already done."

"Umm, do you mind if I watch, Reimer-san?"

Soren regarded the girl but shrugged. "If you wish."

"Thank you."

Soren finished stirring the latest batch of sauce and set it aside with the other flavors. Lobster may have been expensive but as the meat was effectively flavorless one needed seasoning to properly enjoy it.

"Fraulein Horaki, how is the soup looking?" Soren asked.

"Almost ready," Hikari said. "Here, Hazama-san, you can add in the potato chunks now."

The other girl obeyed diligently, carefully sliding the chopped up potatoes off the cutting board into the large pot.

"Alright, that's everything in there, we'll keep the fire high until it boils," Hikari said. "Umm, next is the bread."

As Mana watched she began wondering if it was such a good idea to be hanging around in here. Without anything to actually do all the smells were getting to her and she could feel her mouth watering incessantly.

"Kirishima-san, could you help me with the bread?"

"Oh, yes of course!" Mana said, glad for something to distract herself with.

The preparations for the dinner had actually taken up the better part of the day with Hikari arriving with Toji just after lunch. The boy had been hopelessly lost in the kitchen and so was employed as manual labor, hauling out enough tables and chairs to accommodate all the guests. At this point he was probably slumped on the couch from complete and utter exhaustion.

Mana had arrived a bit later, accompanied by Canon, Tatsumiya, and Musashi and all brought by Kayabuki herself. The colonel had originally requested their assistance with a little errand, which entailed delivering several large boxes to the Reimer-Sommer residence. Only after their arrival did the trainees find out that the content of the boxes was a large selection of seafood, some of it still alive, and that they themselves would be sampling them the coming evening, after chipping in with the preparations of course. Musashi was quickly drafted to help Toji and was likely sprawled out with the other boy. The girls had ended up in the kitchen working under Hikari and Soren's direction, a good thing seeing as none of them were adept at the culinary arts.

By now more guests had arrived, Hikari's sisters bringing along Toji's little sister Sakura while Kensuke showed up all by his lonesome. Now the only people left were some friends and colleagues from Amanda's work and the pilots.

"I feel kind of bad," Canon said, "the others won't be getting a chance to try any of thus stuff."

"There is likely to be plenty of leftovers," Soren said. "Feel free to take some to share."

Canon smiled. "Thank you very much, Reimer-san. For all this. And yesterday too."

"Yesterday?" Hikari said.

"Umm, we ran into a bit of trouble," Mana said, "and Reimer-san was nearby and helped us out."

"I see," Hikari said, noting the tension in the girl's voice and refraining from pressing. "Well, I think you've already figured it out but Reimer-san is a great cook so you're in for a real treat tonight. He's the one that taught Ikari-kun as well."

"Really," Mana said.

"I have had, past experience with Misato's definition of food," Soren said in a deadpan tone. "I felt it best to ensure Herr Ikari was sufficiently independent if he was to live with her."

Hikari giggled and at the confused looks of the others elaborated. "Katsuragi-san, Ikari-kun's guardian, doesn't know how to cook so she used to always eat ready-made or take out."

"Oh, is that so?" Mana said as she and the others joined in the laughter.

The moment of brevity over they quickly finished with the rest of the dishes and were just getting everything laid out on the tables when the front door opened.

"We're back," Amanda announced.

"Food, food!" Misato cheered.

"E-excuse me," Maya said.

Soren smiled slightly at the differing responses before nodding to them.

"Ritsuko, Hauptmann Aramaki, Dr. Ibuki, I believe this is the first time you have come here. Be welcome."

"Th-thank you very much," Maya said with a bow.

"A pleasure to see you as always Reimer-san," Aramaki said, exchanging a firm shake of hands with the German.

"You two've met before?" Misato asked. "I mean outside of those uh, incidences."

"We often meet down in NERV's shooting range," Soren said. "It is one of the few places I can practice with my side arm in Tokyo-3."

"There is the UN base," Kayabuki said as she pulled herself off the couch.

"I do not have formal clearance there," Soren reminded her.

More than one adult reacted in less than complete acceptance of that though none openly tried to refute the claim.

"But where are my manners," Soren said. "Please, have a seat, the food is ready and it would not do to let them go cold."

"We sit anywhere?" Misato asked even though she was halfway in a chair.

Soren simply nodded even as he remained standing.

"Huh, Kirishima?" Asuka said in surprise, then noticing the others. "What are you all doing here?"

"They helped me get all your food here," Kayabuki said. "Where do you think all the stuff got flown in to?"

"The airport," Asuka said without hesitation.

Kayabuki chuckled. "Yeah, no. Anything that's a UN requisition goes through UN gateways."

Asuka looked at the older German woman. "You used the UN to get gourmet food?"

"Well where else was I supposed to get salmon and crab on short notice?"

"That has got to be an abuse of privileges," Kodama said.

"Nope," Amanda said cheerfully as she took her seat at one end of the tables. "All completely by the book."

Asuka assumed a thoughtful expression as she sat down. "Does that mean-"

"No."

"But I haven't-"

"No."

"But you don't-"

"No."

The redhead glared at her mentor while more than one adult was having slight difficult stifling their laughter. Soren watched the antics with his usual impassiveness even as he picked up a bottle of wine, popped its cork, and proceeded to fill the glasses of everyone present, even the minors.

"Reimer-san," Hikari began protesting.

"Please Fraulein," Soren said. "Indulge your host just this once."

"Yeah Hikari," Asuka said. "Trust me, you do not want to miss this."

"Well, I suppose," the straitlaced girl reluctantly conceded, even if she raised an eyebrow as Soren poured into Sakura and Nozomi's glasses. Then again he provided enough for maybe a sip or two, which was probably fine. Probably.

Soren filled his own glass last at the end of his round around the tables. On his right Asuka had managed to claim the seat of honor as if it was only natural, his left Mana somehow doing the same. On the other side of the tables sat Amanda, Misato on her right while Ritsuko had been maneuvered directly opposite of the major. Picking up his glass, he raised it to all his guests.

"A toast," he said, "to friends, to family, and to the life that blesses us with both."

"Cheers!" came the ringing response.

The redhead was right, Mana decided as she sipped from her glass. The wine was not something she would have wanted to miss. In fact she was already plotting how she might get a refill after the current glass was emptied.

"So how did the tests go?" Hikari asked as the meal began in earnest.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Asuka said. "I'd rather not think about it."

Toji snickered. "That bad huh?"

"It was kind of long," Shinji said, "but otherwise it wasn't that different from any of the other sync tests we've had. But we are getting a really nice dinner out of it so I guess I shouldn't be complaining."

"Apologies Shinji," Amanda said. "It was just a tad too short notice to get fugu. I promise I'll get it for you next time."

"That's okay," Shinji assured the woman with a smile. "I'm just kind of amazed you got any of this ready what with Asuka's, requests, today."

"You meant demands," Amanda said with a wider smile even as the redhead shot her a playful glare. "I know Asuka though, so I had the stuff requisitioned already."

"What!? Oh that is so cheating!" the girl protested.

Laughter rippled across the table at both Amanda's declaration and Asuka's reaction. Small talk between closer neighbors soon took over, mixed in with requests to pass this or that dish.

"I think Aoba and Hyuga are going to be very jealous tomorrow," Aramaki commented. "The last time I had seafood this good was, before Impact."

"There are restaurants that still serve the real thing," Amanda pointed out.

"On my salary?" the captain said with a chuckle. "I think Reimer-san may be spoiling you a bit too much."

"It's a husband's job to spoil her wife," Amanda said. "Remember that for when you're older Shinji!"

The boy blushed slightly at the attention as more laughter echoed around him.

"I suppose the real shame is that Ryoji isn't here," Ritsuko said. "I thought you would have definitely dragged him here, Misato?"

"He's out of town," Misato said without missing a beat. "He had some business trip to Tokyo-2."

"Shame," Ritsuko said.

"Well he goes where the job takes him," Amanda said. "And I'm sure Misato'll figure out some way to make it up to him."

The major coughed in the midst of swallowing a piece of salmon. A quick pat of her back by Kayabuki kept her from choking for too long.

"Now that was a cheap shot," Misato protested.

Amanda's only response was a snicker as she continued eating.

"Umm, Shinji-kun, who are all those people by Sommer-san?" Mana asked.

"Oh right, you've never met any of them," Shinji said. "On her right is Katsuragi Misato-san. She's my guar-uh, I mean, my mom." That last bit was nearly a whisper yet no one had trouble hearing it.

Mana was not the only one whose eyes suddenly locked onto the major, who was looking far more coy than usual. Quite a few jaws were also hanging for that matter and a certain redhead's was amongst them.

"Your mom," Asuka finally managed to get out once she figured out how to work her mouth again.

"She, adopted me," Shinji said, slowly but firmly. "So, yeah, that makes her my mom."

The redhead was now looking at him. After a few moments she chuckled. "Well. Good for you. Both of you."

"Thanks Asuka," Shinji said.

The girl nodded. Then her smile turned feral. "Now spill, when, where, how."

"Now Asuka," Misato began.

"Can it Misato," the girl retorted. "You and Baka Shinji've kept this a secret from me and Rei all this time. That. Is. Not. Acceptable. Details. Now."

"Well it wasn't just us," Misato muttered though the girl paid her no heed, instead locking her gaze on Shinji.

"Misato-san asked me about it on the day we left the hospital," Shinji answered, leaning further and further back as Asuka seemed to bear down on him. "It was after the party, after we all found out about Misato-san's promotion. And after that I signed some papers with Amanda-san and I was moved to Misato-san's family register."

The girl's attention shifted to Amanda. "You were in on this too!?"

"I wasn't in on anything," Amanda said, "but I knew about it, of course. I was the one that notarized everything after all."

Asuka's eyes narrowed.

"Fraulein," Soren interjected before the girl could say anything.

Glancing over at her mentor nonchalantly popping a piece of lobster in his mouth the girl settled down again. She immediately reached for a tail herself.

"But damn Shin-man," Toji said. "You really Katsuragi-san's son now?"

"I suppose so," Shinji said with a smile. "It's not like we treat each other differently now though. It's just, well, now I really feel like I have someone there for me."

"That's wonderful Ikari-kun," Hikari said with a wide smile. "I think you and Katsuragi-san make a great family.

"Thanks class rep."

"An adoption happens when a child is without family of his own, correct?" Rei suddenly spoke up.

"Huh? Uh, yeah," Shinji said, not the only one somewhat taken aback by the girl's question.

"Your father still lives," the girl said. "Were you really without family before the adoption?"

The atmosphere turned almost frigid at those words. For a second Shinji thought his heart might yet burst forth. Even now he was amazed no one else could hear it pounding away in his chest. Then he noticed the intent gaze Soren was giving him. It was as if the man could see right through him. See the grief, the pain. The anger.

"He transferred guardianship to Misato-san after I first arrived," Shinji said levelly, doing his best to keep his emotions in check. "If there's anyone that gets to call me family, it's her." He took a deep breath. "And, you."

Rei's eyes widened as her train of thought was abruptly thrown into disarray. That was at least more dignified than the dropped jaws of most the rest of the table.

"Umm, I mean," Shinji said quickly, "you're my sister! I mean, you're like a sister to me! I mean…"

The blue haired girl's confusion abated ever so slightly and, was that a slight sense of disappointment creeping upon her? Rei brushed it aside. Shinji cared about her, that much she already knew. And she found that she wanted to reciprocate that concern. That certainly seemed to fit the definition of siblings. Did it?

"I will think about it," the girl finally said, truthful to the end.

Unnoticed by the others Soren and Amanda had watched the entire exchange without blinking. They were treading on incredibly dangerous ground here. The boy's protectiveness over his loved ones was already a given. Whatever happened, they needed to make sure it did not reach the levels of extremism it so easily could. They were here to save the world after all, not see it get destroyed again because a lonely boy lost all hope.

* * *

Mana yawned, still a bit sleepy from morning lectures. She was so tempted to just sleep through them seeing as the teacher kept droning on about the same thing over and over again but had persisted. Thankfully lunch was here and she was able to hang out with her friends.

"Say Shinji, there anymore leftovers from the dinner Sunday?" Toji asked his friend shamelessly.

"Sorry," Shinji said with a chuckle. "Asuka's keeping it under lock and key in her apartment."

The boy was rewarded with a jab of the girl's chopsticks.

"Damn. I tell ya, that salmon was absolutely heavenly! If yer lookin' for someplace to splurge with all that money yer sittin' on, well…"

"I'll think about it," Shinji said. "I would like to try some more lobster though. I've never had it until then."

"And all it took was a ten hour long test sitting in an entry plug," Asuka said. "Sure you've got the patience to go through that all over again, Shinji?"

"You're the one Amanda-san thought needed bribing Asuka," Shinji reminded the girl teasingly.

"And are you saying you won't next time, knowing how nice a bribe she can come up with?" the girl countered.

"Well…"

Their friends laughed at the exchange with even Mana and her fellow trainees joining in.

"Please pass on our thanks to Reimer-san and Sommer-san," Mana said. "Our friends also enjoyed the stuff we brought back. They were definitely jealous that they didn't get to eat it fresh."

"Seafood's best right out of the pot," Asuka agreed. "Though, I didn't know you all even knew the Maestro."

"We, didn't really until Saturday," Mana said. "And only then because of my, aunt."

"Ah, the UN colonel," Asuka said with a knowing nod.

It was pretty clear the Second Child knew the relation was a fabrication, not that Mana had any idea how, but the others seemed to accept the explanation. It certainly helped that Kayabuki actually did share a resemblance to the girl, obviously with the added age difference of course. And if Mana was honest with herself she rather liked the colonel. It was more like having a big sister than an aunt at least, even if she could be somewhat strict about following the rules on base. Then again that was also for their own good seeing as the place was a military installation.

"I'm just glad there was enough to share," Shinji said. "You said there are around twenty of you that transferred to Tokyo-3?"

Mana nodded. "Yeah, we're split across three schools, though we're all staying at the same dorms."

"That's good at least," Shinji said. "At least that way you can all still keep in touch."

Toji snorted. "Assuming ya want ta keep in touch with that Shinn guy."

"Toji," Hikari admonished.

"What? Just saying it like it is."

Tatsumiya sighed. "No, he's right, Shin-san's been, unhappy ever since the move."

"Is there anything we can do?" Hikari asked.

"I honestly don't think so," Tatsumiya said. "He really liked our, old school, and the problems there didn't bother him. He might have, even thought they were worth it if he got to stay there."

"Huh, talk about a nut," Asuka said.

"Asuka," Hikari said, switching over to her friend.

"It's alright," Canon said. "Shinn-san's always been, well, he always goes for what he wants and has trouble admitting when he can't get it."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Toji snickered.

Said snicker was abruptly cut off with a solid thunk of a foot in his side.

"That's what you get for baiting the tiger," Kensuke joked.

Laughter echoed from the rooftop as the kids enjoyed another sunny day.

* * *

Shinn glared at the lawn, the laughter from there was audible even from where he was eating lunch. This was all so stupid, all of them had been given a chance to become the next generation of heroes for Japan, to defend their nation and its people in unparalleled war machines. He was even certain they could take on an EVA if the need ever arose. Instead they had been yanked out of the training program by the stooges of those foreign interlopers the UN and sent to school of all places. In fact the same school as that attended by the EVA pilots. At first Shinn had thought it was some sort of mission, to get close to the pilots to learn their weaknesses and maybe a few secrets about NERV and the EVAs. Instead it was looking like the UN expected them to actually stay here. Then he found out that the JSSDF was actually being investigated for, abusing, the Trident pilot trainees. The boy had just barely managed to contain his rage at those accusations. Sure the training was hard and they were pushed, but they were being pushed to excel. Just because some of the other trainees were not up to it did not mean they were being abused, damn it. He was fine after all.

Even as Shinn stewed in frustration he caught sight of the pilots, both sets, and their other classmates heading back. The EVA pilots did not look like much. The boy looked like a scrawny twerp while the blue haired girl did not seem to ever assert herself. The foreign redhead was more outgoing but so what? Anyone could boast, it took a real pilot to get results. Shinn's eyes narrowed. Maybe it was time to see just how far from reality all those rumors about the pilots were. They were just kids after all, coddled kids who had never tasted hardship like him.

* * *

Mana suddenly stiffened, causing Shinji to look over and see the boy standing in their way. Shinn Asuka, another of the transferees from Mana's old school, wherever that was. The sulky, antisocial one, though Shinji was well aware of the irony of him labeling someone else like that. Then again Mana did not seem to particularly like him either, something her reaction now confirmed.

"Kirishima," Shinn said.

Mana regarded the boy. "What do you want, Asuka."

The redhead sniffed at the usage of the name but said nothing otherwise, apparently understanding that Mana was intentionally distancing herself from the boy by calling him by his last name. Even if it was her first name.

"Why are you hanging out with them."

The 'them' might as well have been a sneer the way he said it. More than one person standing by Mana bristled.

"And why not?" Mana replied. "They're my classmates."

"They're EVA pilots," Shinn said. "We shouldn't have anything to do with them."

"That doesn't matter," Mana said. "They're my classmates. And yours."

Shinn's glare darkened. "They're nothing to me. And they should be nothing to you."

Mana returned the glare with her own composed gaze. "I don't care about what you think they 'should' be. They're my classmates and my friends." She resumed walking again. "I have nothing else to say Shinn."

"I'm not done yet!" the boy thundered, reaching out to grab her.

Mana jerked back but Shinn's movement was too quick. He had always been the strongest of the group, the fastest, and almost the most flexible. He was also heavier than Mana and the difference in muscle mass gave him a decided advantage in any physical confrontation. That did not mean the girl was defenseless however as her leg swept upward and smashed into his shin. The boy cried out in pain but his eyes were full of rage. Instinctively, he twisted the girl's arm and elicited a scream. That was not enough however as with his other hand he grabbed hold of her head and slammed her into the wall.

"Kirishima!" Canon cried as she charged forth to defend her friend.

She was beaten to it however. Beaten to it by a black haired, blue eyed, scrawny boy. A boy that landed a solid punch into Shinn's gut that nearly threw the other boy back. A punch that was followed up by an elbow strike that sounded with a distinctive crunch against Shinn's ribs. The boy went spinning back and landed in a tangled heap. Shinji barely even noticed as he turned back.

"Mana!"

Canon and Tatsumiya were already upon the girl, holding her steady.

"I-I'm okay, I think," Mana said, one hand pressed against her head. Blood was already flowing between her fingers.

"Keep pressure on that wound!" Asuka ordered. "Hikari, anyone with handerchiefs, give them to me!"

Four sets were quickly shoved into the redhead's hands and Asuka wasted no time fashioning a makeshift bandage. She quickly applied it to Mana's head, instructing Canon to help hold it down.

"Get her to the nurse's office now," Asuka said.

Canon and Tatsumiya needed no further urging and each took an arm as they helped their friend along with Shinji right behind. Asuka cast a glance at the boy still sprawled about on the floor. He was coughing and if the sound when Shinji hit him was any indication likely had a few cracked ribs.

"Stooges," Asuka said. "Grab him and bring him too." And almost as an afterthought. "Careful, the baka probably broke something."

Reluctantly but knowing that they could not leave the boy there, no matter how big an asshole he was for hitting a girl, Toji and Kensuke picked him up. They were careful, but not entirely gentle, as they hauled him along. Today was turning out to be quite a mess.

End of Chapter 23

Technically a corpsman is a navy thing, but I decided to use that term instead of medic because medic didn't sound, threatening enough for Soren's scene. Anyway, more character establishing moments for Soren. And a bit of WAFF for Shinji and Rei. And we get to see Shinji's overprotective side. The guy did nearly end the world trying to save one of his loved ones after all, and this was before he found out about their 'relationship.' After the training he's undergone with Amanda and Soren, Shinji is now much better equipped to fight for his loved ones.

I wanted to make sure to distinguish Mana from Mayumi and one easy way is to demonstrate that she can look out for herself. The JSSDF would almost certainly have taught her and the other trainees hand-to-hand as part of their physical conditioning and it wouldn't have made any sense if she was just some helpless damsel in distress if she got attacked. I also wanted to make sure that the fight against the yakuza thugs properly portrayed. Since they outmass the kids, the trainees need to fight them intelligently, ie team up and call for help.

I think it's fair to say that I was not a fan of Shinn Asuka in Gundam Seed Destiny. He, was an idiot, plain and simple, and the writers did a horrifically bad job scripting him. The ultimate problem is that his 'redemption' in the end did not have any real setup. There's nothing in the build up to the ending to indicate his mentality was shifting to a more stable outlook, instead he was being portrayed as increasingly fanatical. If he was going to get broken out of that mindset, the only realistic way it should have happened is if he was 'broken' out of it, and the trauma from that should not have been overcome anywhere near as easily as it's presented in the ending. That and he's just kind of an ass overall and I didn't have much sympathy for him. So he gets used as a punching bag in my story.

Note to self: Start making a list of all characters so that I remember who I've used as a sidestepper, who is an original, and who are franchise migrants that I'm borrowing from other series.

Oh, and of course, another divergence with the Angels. You guys didn't really think I'd make things nice and simple for them, right?

Anyway, drop me a line about what you all think.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Die Taschenspielerei

"Alright, I just got my ass chewed out by the principal," Amanda said, looking distinctly sour, "let's get this over with. What's Shinn's status?"

"Shinn-san," Hayashima said, using the boy's first name like the others to avoid ambiguity with everyone's favorite redhead, "is currently in the hospital with two cracked ribs. Shinji-kun, did not exercise much restraint when he struck Shinn-san."

Amanda snorted. "No surprise there. And Mana?"

"A light head wound despite the amount of bleeding," Hayashima assured the others. "She'll be fine, though the hospital is keeping her under observation to make sure she did not suffer a concussion."

"She better not have," Kayabuki spat out.

"Easy oberst," Amanda said. "Is Shinn lucid or is he under from the painkillers?"

"Groggy at best. My suggestion would be to let him stew a little bit, but we will need to figure out some way to defuse him."

"Suggestions?"

"His sister."

The two colonels looked at the doctor, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Shinn-san has a younger sister, Asuka Mayu, who is still living with their parents. Indications are he joined the Trident project for her sake."

"Seriously?" Kayabuki said. "How does joining to learn how to pilot a giant walker help one's little sister?"

Amanda coughed.

"You know what I mean."

"The Asuka family is not wealthy," Kayabuki said. "In fact before Shinn-san's enlistment they were just barely making ends meet. From what I have learned from Shinn-san himself and the other trainees, there was a monetary reward for joining the program in addition to a few other benefits extended to their families. More rations, subsidies on basic services like healthcare, that sort of thing."

"We knew that already," Amanda said. "So far the JSSDF has not been crass enough to end those benefits even with the pilots in our hands."

"Yes but that has to be of a major concern for Shinn-san, especially seeing as his little sister is anemic and requires ongoing treatment for her condition."

"What?" Amanda said. "That was not in the brief."

"No, it wasn't, but we were too dismissive of the boy's motives regardless," Hayashima said. "He cares about his duty to his country in an abstract manner, but he genuinely cares about his sister in a definite, concrete manner."

"Interesting," Amanda said. "And sloppy of us. Where do they live?"

"Sendai. That region is still recovering from a tsunami that hit four years ago."

"Huh, doesn't Morgenroete have a relief branch there helping with the reconstruction?"

Both Hayashima and Kayabuki looked at Amanda flatly.

"Right, right, I'm the one that should know these things. I'll call them and see if they have records of the Asuka family receiving aid."

"A call might be too conspicuous," Hayashima said. "Perhaps Reimer-san could drop by there after his business trip to Tokyo-2?"

"Huh, that'd probably work. He doesn't have any performances this week and so long as he's back in time for any stunts the JSSDF tries next, we should be good to go."

"When is his business meeting in Tokyo-2 supposed to be anyway?" Kayabuki asked.

Amanda checked her watch. "Right about now, actually."

The response elicited a feral grin from the colonel. The one Amanda returned equaled it by any measure.

* * *

The palatial apartment was an interesting mixture of western and eastern asthetics. Most of the furniture was western in style, sofas and couches with tables obviously meant to be sat before instead of knelt around. Then there were the scrolls of calligraphy and ink paintings on the walls along with a few antique swords mounted on stands. There was even a bonsai tree sitting by the window, though heavens knew whether the owner of this place actually cared for it himself or had some hired expert look after it. Soren might even list that as one of his questions for the man that was even now entering his residence.

As the lights turned on to reveal his presence, the man hesitated. He blinked a few times as if trying to confirm the presence of this random stranger in his home. When Soren remained there on his couch, legs crossed and staring back at him, he grimaced.

"You certainly have some gall," the man said. "How did you get past my security?"

"Easily enough," Soren said. "Please, have a seat Nishiguchi-san. This is your home after all. Or one of them at least."

The man looked at him warily, obviously trying to see if he recognized Soren. That was unlikely as the face Soren now wore was one that would not naturally come about for several more years. Shinji Ikari was still a boy at this point after all, not a well built middle aged man.

"Who are you?" Nishiguchi asked.

"Who I am is irrelevant," Soren said. "If you need something to call me by, then Rokubungi will suffice."

"And is there a reason why I shouldn't call in my guards and have you, dealt with?"

That was probably one of the more unimaginative veiled threats Soren had heard in his life. It was almost boring in its predictability.

"You can try. Assuming you think they could take me. And assuming you think they could keep you alive in the attempt."

The man bristled slightly but made no motion to summon his men. If there was any fear alongside that anger though the man hid it very well. In fact the one thing that Soren was picking up was curiosity.

"I presume you are here to deliver a message," the man finally said.

"I am. And it would be boorish of me to make you listen to it while standing. So please, sit."

The first two times were an invitation. Something told Nishiguchi the third would not be.

"Very well, Rokubungi-san." After seating himself, Nishiguchi tilted his head ever so slightly. "So, what is your message?"

"Some of your men trespassed on Tokyo-3 recently," Soren stated. "The interests that control the city do not take kindly to such intrusions. As the oyabun of the Sumiyoshi-kai, I trust you understand that you are ultimately accountable for the actions of your subordinates."

"And these, interests, believe that they can hold me personally accountable?" Nishiguchi responded.

That was almost certainly a bluff as there was no way Nishiguchi was so ignorant or arrogant as to believe the patrons of Tokyo-3 would have any difficulty crushing him or the Sumiyoshi-kai should they decide it to be necessary. Still, images had to be maintained.

Soren cocked his head aside. "You have 121.6 million yen in the Fuji Bank, 53.2 million yen in stocks in the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and 24.1 million yen in the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. All under proxies of course, but they represent your money. For now at least."

Nishiguchi's eyes narrowed. There was that flicker of anger again. Interestingly however it did not seem to be directed at Soren.

"The last I checked I had 26.1 million yen in Sumitomo Mitsui."

"And you probably will by the end of the week, assuming of course your subordinate doesn't lose all that money gambling or can come up with the cash to make good what he does lose."

The snort from Nishiguchi was more resigned than anything else. "So? How would your, interests, like me to take responsibility? I doubt it's money, seeing as you obviously could have seized my accounts without much difficulty."

"Tell me, are you aware that one of your subordinates has dealings with the JSSDF?"

Nishiguchi grunted. "What of it? The JSSDF are no different than any bureaucracy. If you know how we conduct business, than a relationship with them is not surprising in the least."

"And does that relationship include being contracted to perform the JSSDF's dirty work?"

The yakuza oyabun frowned. "What dirty work?"

"The reason your men entered Tokyo-3 was because at the request of the JSSDF they were trying to kidnap a fourteen year old middle school girl."

There was an audible intake of breath as Nishiguchi heard this. "The UN investigation."

"Ah, so you have heard about it. Good, that makes this simpler."

How much simpler was still an open question, though at least for Nishiguchi this narrowed down which of Tokyo-3's patrons was angry with the Sumiyoshi-kai. NERV, while it possessed a certain reputation for ruthlessness in guarding its secrets, seemed mostly content to stay within the bounds of its domain. The UN on the other hand liked to be ever present and it had many more formal methods for taking down a criminal organization like the Sumiyoshi-kai.

"I presume this is leading up to something?" Nishiguchi said.

"You presume correctly." From behind his back Soren pulled out a folder and tossed it onto the table between them. "Colonel Hirogawa of the JSSDF. He was the one that arranged for your men to make the kidnapping attempt. I want you to meet with him."

Nishiguchi frowned. "Meet with him? What for?"

"To extract an admission from him."

The oyabun frowned. "You want me to wear a wire."

"No, that won't be necessary. All you need do is maneuver him into admission that he ordered the attempt. The details that you need to know are in that folder. I leave the actual method you choose to employ up to you."

Nishiguchi flipped through the pages, giving them a quick glance. "And if I do this, the matter will be considered settled?"

"The matter will be considered settled."

The oyabun closed the folder and looked at Soren again. "And what of my men?"

"The leader of the attempt is dead. The others are in custody."

Nishiguchi pursed his lips. "And the cost of their release? And the return of the deceased's body?"

"Do a good job getting Hirokawa to incriminate himself," Soren said as he stood. "No need to stand, I'll see myself out."

Nishiguchi watched as the stranger headed towards the door and opened it. He expected some kind of reaction from his guards, something to indicate surprise or at least acknowledgment that someone was leaving. Nothing. The moment the door closed he was on his feet and rushed over. This time when the door opened his two guards turned and bowed respectfully.

"Sir."

"You didn't see anyone leave just now?"

The two men exchanged confused looks. "No sir, no one has entered or left since you got back."

Nishiguchi frowned and closed the door once more. Whoever this Rokubungi was, he was not someone to be trifled with. Nishiguchi reached for his phone, not wanting to waste any time. There was a meeting to arrange. And a man to investigate.

* * *

The day of her return Mana found a pile of cards and even a few flowers on her desk. She did not even bother trying to hold back her tears and let Canon embrace her. The smiles on everyone else's face at seeing her back was just the cherry on top. Here was someplace where people actually welcomed her and where she could feel like she belonged.

"Mana-san," Shinji said with a smile of his own. It did not falter even when his eyes flickered to the bandage on her head.

Mana smiled back and bowed. "Thank you for coming to my defense, Shinji-kun. I, appreciate it. And, I hope I never give you cause to get angry again."

"It wasn't your fault Mana-san," Shinji assured her quietly. "I don't like seeing my friends get hurt."

"I'll try to make sure not to put you through this again," Mana said.

"Yeah, really, don't," Toji suddenly said as he hooked an arm around his friend's head. "He was in the principal's office for like an hour. Poor guy's so traumatized he won't even tell us what she said to him."

"That's not it at all!" Shinji protested as he tried to escape the headlock.

"Did I get you in trouble!?" Mana asked quickly.

"No, no," Shinji responded as he shook off Toji. "She, just wanted to make sure I would think before leaping in the future. Umm, is Shinn-san okay? From the sound of it I might have broken something."

From the side Asuka snorted in disbelief at the boy but said nothing.

"I think he'll be fine," Mana said carefully, "he'll just need some time to mend."

"I see," Shinji said before sighing. "Sorry it came to all this."

"It's not your fault Shinji-kun," Mana insisted. "The, situation's complicated. I don't want to have to see you fight. But, I'm glad that you are there for me as a friend."

The silence that followed could be described as touching. Or awkward. Really it depended on which perspective you viewed it from. Fortunately or unfortunately it did not last long as the first bell rang and the students hurried to their desks. For Mana the return to regularity was a relief. She could even put up with the teacher's droning morning lecture. That would get tiresome again quickly enough but for now she let herself enjoy things moment to moment.

Lunch came soon enough and to her surprise Asuka came before her desk.

"We need to talk," the redhead said. "You and Hazama with me, Shinji, and Rei."

Mana was not stupid and knew immediately what the girl was getting at. This was perhaps inevitable seeing as Asuka had obviously not bought the cover story originally but Mana was still not looking forward to this. Not least of which because of how Shinji might react. She felt that she knew the boy enough that she would not be somehow diminished in his eyes once he knew the truth, but she also knew that Shinji could be ferociously protective of his family and friends. As she had said before, she did not like seeing him angry and if he found out the whole truth he was likely to get very, very angry. Still, with Asuka insisting there was no way to put this off.

"Alright," Mana said. "Where should we go?"

"Follow me," Asuka said. "Hikari, keep the stooges in line please. This is important."

"Of course, Asuka-san," the class rep said before fixing Kensuke with a hard gaze.

"I'll be good," the bespectacled boy promised quickly.

"Uh, what's this about-whoa!"

Shinji's question was abruptly cut off as Asuka grabbed hold of his collar and began dragging him after her. Rei followed with her usual stoicism while Canon and Mana found it increasingly difficult not to laugh. That temptation faded quickly enough once they entered a room with several men in suits sitting about in. The two groups exchanged mildly surprised looks.

"Could we have this room for a bit please?" Asuka said, putting on her best nice girl impression.

The men exchanged looks before one nodded and they quickly vacated the room. Asuka closed the door and locked it behind her.

"This room is soundproofed," she said, "so you don't need to worry about anyone else hearing about anything you say."

Mana's eyes widened. "Really?"

"This is the breakroom for our security detail," Asuka said. "Anyway, as I was saying, it's time we had a little talk. It's pretty damn obvious that all of you didn't just transfer in because your old school got shut down. You're part of a UN investigation of some sort, probably material witnesses if they're housing you at the base but still letting you come to our school. So, spill."

Mana had to hand it to the girl, when Asuka wanted something she went straight for it. Still that did not mean she would not make the other girl work a little for it.

"How do you know we're part of a UN investigation?" Mana asked.

"Because Amanda told me," Asuka replied. "And no, she wouldn't give me the details, but seeing as one of your old 'classmates' decided to snap I think we're owed an explanation, seeing as he did it in our school."

Mana and Canon looked at each other. Asuka's point was tenuous and by all rights they really should keep their mouths shut. After all there was no telling what the consequences might be if the truth became widely known before the investigation was over.

"Mana-san, Hazama-san," Shinji said. "If you can't tell us, that's fine, but you are our friends and we'd like to help. I promise, anything you say here won't go any further than us."

Mana offered Shinji a grateful smile before taking a deep breath. "Alright. But, please let us finish explaining before you say anything. It's, too easy to jump to conclusions without knowing everything."

"Of course," Shinji assured her.

The girl needed another breath to try to calm her thumping heart. It did not help much.

"We, were, pilot trainees for a JSSDF project called the T-RIDEN-T," Mana began. "We all just call it Trident. It's a bipedal walker designed to operate against land, air, and sea targets. The JSSDF started the project a couple of years ago and we were recruited about two years back. Most of us signed on because, well, we thought it was an opportunity to make a difference, to help our country, be patriotic and all that. And they offered some real benefits to our families like more food and better healthcare. I know that's one of the big reasons Shinn-san joined, so that he could get better treatment for his little sister."

Shinji's eyes widened but a quick squeeze of his hand by Mana kept him from saying anything.

"For the first year things went fine, we trained in simulators and it was even fun. Then the prototypes were completed and we started logging hours in the real thing. That's, when the problems started. At first we didn't realize what was happening, but then more and more of us started getting lightheaded, getting cramps, muscle tremors, that kind of stuff. It, turns out that the Tridents don't have enough shock dampeners or other things to compensate for the impact of its movements. And so every time we got into a real Trident, our bodies were being pounded."

The grimace on Asuka's face turned into an outright scowl.

"We, tried asking our trainers about it but they just brushed us off," Mana said. "That was about when some of us started having second thoughts about the program. But, it was too late. We couldn't figure out a way of getting out, and they beat up Keita when he said he didn't want to pilot anymore."

Now Shinji's face was wrinkled in a scowl but Mana smiled reassuringly at him.

"Keita's getting treatment now," she said, pointedly not explaining just how he ended up finally receiving it. "And the UN's investigating the whole thing. I don't know how they found out about it, but they did and pulled all of us out. We're all getting treatment actually. And they're giving us a chance to go to school, just like regular kids."

Mana's voice cracked slightly at that last word. It was then that she felt the trails left behind by the tears she had already shed.

"Huh? What?"

The girl wiped her face but more poured out. She sniffed, trying to hold them back. Still they came. Had she really been holding all this in for so long? Her hand tightened, squeezing Shinji's hand. The boy squeezed back. The wall broke and Mana slumped against the chair. She could finally cry. And cry she did. Canon quickly embraced her friend, tears of her own slowly leaking out. It felt like they really were out now, away from the impossible demands of the military and just living life like regular people. And that was most certainly worth a few tears.

Shinji watched as Canon and Mana made their way back to the classroom. Nothing much had been said after the two had broken down, but nothing much needed to be said. Something told him that simply holding onto Mana's hand as she cried herself out was more than enough for the girl. He looked down at his own hand again and flexed it.

"I once asked Misato-san what would happen after we defeated the Angels," he said, causing Asuka and Rei to look at him. "I asked if we would be forced to pilot against our fellow human beings. She told me that she, Amanda, Kaji, and a lot of other people were working hard to make sure that would never happen. I took her word for it then, though I was still a bit worried."

Asuka chuckled dryly. "I take it you're not anymore?"

"No," the boy said firmly. "No, I'm not worried. I trust Misato-san. And Amanda-san. And even Kaji-san. They're good people. And I'll do whatever I can to help them too."

Asuka said nothing for a few moments before nodding her head. "You just might become a man someday."

"Huh?"

* * *

The train ride to Sendai allowed Soren to catch some shut eye, something his instincts told him would be becoming scarce in the near future. A pity those same instincts declined to explain exactly why that would be the case, but he supposed if he really became prescient life might become too boring. From the train station it was only a short walk to Morgenroete's regional aid office, the building actually on the rail line itself to allow for the quick offloading of cargo. As the prefectural capital Sendai was also the regional hub for all of the aid Morgenroete distributed in the region.

It was nearly noon when Soren arrived and there was a steady line of people going into one of the side buildings, the cafeteria if he was not mistaken. One of the things Morgenroete branches always had was an open to the public cafeteria that served subsidized but healthy food. One of the downsides to this was the risk of undercutting local businesses, but Morgenroete had the policy of sourcing meals from those same businesses and making up the difference out of its own funds. Prices would eventually rise until they were at near parity as areas recovered and the need for such charity was reduced but Morgenroete was always there to act as a backstop in case someone fell into difficulty, especially seeing as there were procedures to allow people in need to get meals completely free.

Soren walked past the lines and excused himself into the building's main entrance. A guard nodded respectfully as Soren approached the metal detector.

"Please put anything that might trigger the sensor here," he said.

Thunk. The man looked down. His eyes were agape as he stared at the automatic pistol Soren had just dropped into the pan.

"And here's my authorization for the weapon and my clearance for access to the building," the German said as he placed the document and an ID card into said pan. Then the watch. Then the belt that he unbuckled nonchalantly. Finally the smartphone. His face remained impassively stoic.

"Uh, yes sir," the guard said. "I'll get these checked out. Please, walk through."

Soren passed through the detector without it triggering and took a seat nearby as the guard went over the documents. A quick swipe of his card saw the man's eyes widen again. In fairness to the man it was unlikely he was expecting to have a director-level persona show up at the branch today. Still whatever his surprise the guard took a very careful look at the documentation that authorized Soren to carry a gun around Japan. The Morgenroete building was private property so it set its own rules about weapons inside, assuming those same people who might carry weapons did not violate Japan's domestic laws in the process. Good, the man was attentive to his duty.

Not too long later the guard walked over and presented Soren's belongings with a blow.

"Here, Reimer-sama, everything checks out."

"Thank you," Soren said, holstering the gun first before grabbing his other things. "Is the branch director in his office right now?"

"Ah, Uzumi-sama, tends to take lunch in the cafeteria with the staff. Shall I call him for you?"

"That's alright, I'll wait in his office," Soren said. "Thank you for your assistance."

The guard bowed again as Soren walked off and stayed there until the elevator doors closed. The next second he was scrambling for his phone.

The wait for Morgenroete's regional director did not take very long as a mere two minutes after Soren settled down into one of the guest chairs the door opened.

"Reimer-sama!" the elderly man said.

Soren stood and turned to greet the man. "Herr Uzumi, a pleasure."

Uzumi took Soren's hand and gave it a firm shake. "I was not aware that a director was planning on visiting us. In fact, to be perfectly honest I did not even know you were a board director!"

"I needed to do something more productive with my money than simply spoiling my wife."

Soren's face was still completely expressionless. Uzumi however decided to treat it as a joke and chuckled.

"Well, I can assure you that your money has been put to very good use. Please, sit."

The man's office was in some ways actually rather Spartan. The chairs, while comfortable, were obviously fairly cheap and the desk between the two was equally utilitarian. Probably the most expensive thing on there was the flat panel monitor which, considering the small amount of surface area Uzumi had to work with, was more a matter of practicality than luxury.

"So how can I help you, Reimer-sama?" Uzumi asked.

"I'd like access to records concerning an Asuka family," Soren said. "They're a family of four, father, mother, son, and daughter. The daughter is anemic and may have received treatment from Morgenroete."

Uzumi frowned. "My understanding, sir, is that Morgenroete's records on those people we help are held in strict confidence for their privacy."

"I am aware," Soren said, "and I do not ask for access lightly. However, an incident has arisen involving their son and in order to help him I need a better understanding of his family's situation."

The older man stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I see. And, the nature of the trouble this young man has gotten himself into?"

"With the understanding that this is for your ears only," Soren said.

"Of course."

Soren held Uzumi's gaze for several moments before nodding slightly. "Young Shinn was involved in a JSSDF project, one that's run afoul of the UN. We are trying to get him out of that project and returned to his family safely, but he has not been cooperative."

The frown deepened. "What age is Shinn-san?"

"Fourteen this year."

"But, the age of enlistment is sixteen."

"Hence why the UN involved itself."

The Morgenroete regional manager tapped his desk as he worked out the implications for himself. Then he pressed his keyboard, waking his computer. The next few minutes were spent typing before Uzumi found the information Soren needed.

"I would prefer not to allow you to directly see their information," Uzumi said, "but please, ask your questions and I will do my best to answer."

The man certainly had a firm sense of integrity, Soren could see.

"Have their daughter been receiving treatment from Morgenroete within the last two years?"

"Intermittently," Uzumi said as he scanned the records. "She has also been getting treatment at the Sendai City Hospital. Most of the medication that she needs is available there, but there are a few specialty items that we can get easier thanks to Morgenroete's supply chain."

"And her condition itself?"

"It is, stable. And has been improving, at least as of the last checkup by our own doctors."

Soren nodded. "What of the parents? What sort of jobs do they have?"

"The father, looks to be a construction worker," Uzumi said. "The mother, actually works for us. As a daycare worker."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes. Daycare services for young children is, one of our more popular services," Uzumi said with a wiry smile. "The, government still does not consider it a priority to provide young mothers with a place to leave their children so that they can return to work."

Soren snorted. That was typical of the Japanese bureaucrats and politicians, still steeped in the old patriarchy and without the imagination to see past it.

"Could you arrange a meeting with them?" Soren asked.

"Of course. Do you, wish to speak with just the parents, or did you wish for their daughter to also be present?"

"Just the parents is fine," Soren said. "Which company does the father work for?"

A brief pause. "A small, local construction company. Morgenroete's had little to no dealings with them though, beyond a few subcontracts that our own contractors may farm out. As far as we can tell though the company itself is clean, no connections to crime, no major problems with business."

"And how long has he been working there?"

Uzumi frowned and typed a few more commands in. "I, cannot say. The mother however began working for us a little over six months ago."

"I see," Soren said as he leaned back. "Well, Herr Uzumi. If you could arrange for that meeting at their earliest convenience."

"Of course, Reimer-sama. And we have a guest office that you may use while you are here."

Soren graced the man with a slight nod. "You have my thanks."

* * *

The meeting ended up taking place a mere two hours after Soren's arrival and the German found himself seated in one of the nicer meeting rooms across two very worried looking parents.

"Reimer-san," Shinn's father greeted. "Uzumi-sama said you were here to speak with us about our son."

Soren nodded. "You are, aware of Shinn's enlistment with the JSSDF?"

The man frowned. "Enlistment? Our understanding was that it was more of a work study program. A vocational apprenticeship."

The German was finding it very hard not to grimace. "That, is not entirely the case."

Worry was now turning into borderline panic.

"Please, Reimer-san," the mother said. "Just tell us, has something happened to Shinn?"

"He was, injuried, in an altercation," Soren said. "He'll mend, he'll just be stuck in bed for a bit and the doctors do not foresee any longterm consequences."

Relief, though concern at the obvious point that their son had been injured.

"What happened?" the father asked.

"The, situation is complicated," Soren said. "Has the JSSDF contacted either of you recently about Shinn?"

Shakes of heads.

"Shinn usually sends a text every other day or so," the mother said, "to let us know he's okay. And he tries to call once a week as well. He's, late, this time around, and we'd begun to worry."

Soren nodded. "I see. Herr and Frau Asuka, I'm afraid the JSSDF has not been entirely honest with you about what your son has been doing. He has been serving as a, pilot trainee, for an experimental war machine of theirs, a new weapon, with the intent that when he reached enlistment age he would formally join as a frontline soldier."

"But-but why!" the father demanded. "He, he was just a boy when he joined!"

"The, why, is currently the subject of a UN investigation," Soren said. "Shinn and all of the other trainees have been taken into protective custody and are currently attending school in Tokyo-3."

Another shock to the parents.

"What?"

"There are, international laws regarding the appropriateness of training children to become soldiers," Soren said. "There are many in the UN Inspectorate who believe the JSSDF's little project crosses the line, hence why a formal inquiry was launched. As part of that inquiry, all of the trainees were removed from JSSDF custody and placed in the care of the 597th UN Regiment currently based at Tokyo-3. More specifically, they are being housed on the base but they are being sent to Tokyo-3's schools to continue with their education."

Soren could easily see the conflicting emotions at play here. Sure, the UN may have gotten their kids out of the JSSDF, but Tokyo-3? Where the Angels were attacking?

"Their residency there is temporary," Soren said, "until the investigation is concluded and we can return the children to their respective families. Which brings us back to the matter of Shinn."

The two tensed up again.

"What about Shinn?"

"Based off of his behavior, and the altercation that saw him hospitalized, we are fairly certain that Shinn actually wanted to go through with the JSSDF's program. We are trying to understand why that is the case."

The parents looked at each other, a flicker of pain and guilt in their eyes.

"Two years ago," the father said, "when the JSSDF first made their offer, was tough for us. Mayu, our daughter, her treatments were costing us a great deal of money and we were having trouble making ends meet, even with the help provided by Morgenroete. Back then, the JSSDF offer seemed too good to be true. They, told us it was for vocational training, for mechanical work and such, and after it was finished all Shinn needed to do was serve a tour of duty as support staff. We, were desperate at the time, and in addition to paying for Shinn's housing and food, they also offered us a stipend to help with Mayu's medicine." The man smiled sadly. "We, weren't sure about accepting, but Shinn said he wanted to go. He said it was his duty, as the big brother, to make sure Mayu got what he needed."

The grimace on their faces said it all. They regretted letting their son go, not just because of what Soren was telling them now but also because in the end, for two years they had not had their son by their side and Mayu had not had her big brother where she needed him.

"And has the situation improved since then?" Soren asked.

"Yes. Both of us eventually found better jobs, my wife with Morgenroete itself. We're getting by now, we're even putting a little money away for the future, for our children's schooling." The smile turned into a grimace. "We, had hoped that Shinn would be able to come back, to finish his actual schooling, once his service with the JSSDF was over."

"You are aware of Morgenroete's scholarship program?" Soren asked.

More uncertain looks.

"We, had heard about it," the mother admitted, "but we weren't sure if our children qualified."

That was true enough. Then again, even if Morgenroete came up short Soren had assets of his own. He picked up the folder next to him and placed it before the father and mother. When they looked at him questioningly he nodded.

"Please."

Tenatively, the father picked up the manila folder and flipped it open. They both gasped at the same time.

"This, this is, I…"

That was all the man managed before tears began to overcome him. He shot up and bowed deeply. His wife was only moments behind.

"Thank you very much, Reimer-san. I, we don't know how to thank you."

"There is one thing you can help me with," Soren said. "I hope it to be a simple matter for you."

The man straightened, rubbing his eyes clear. "Anything, Reimer-san."

"When your son comes back, make sure that he understands that the duty of a big brother is also to be there for a little sister."

The father nodded firmly. "I will, Reimer-san. And, thank you. For everything."

* * *

Hirokawa eyed the man standing across from him uneasily. When his Sumiyoshi-kai contact had requested a meeting, he had expected to simply meet the local boss that he had negotiated with previously for the kidnapping attempt. Instead before him stood the oyabun of the entire syndicate. Something had obviously gone far more awry than the mere botching of the attempt.

"Colonel Hirokawa," Nishiguchi said. "You have caused me considerable trouble."

Hirokawa frowned. "You refer to the operation in Tokyo-3."

"Operation!" Nishiguchi spat. "Call it what it is, _colonel_, it was a kidnapping, a kidnapping targeting a little girl. Is the JSSDF full of cowards that they cannot handle such unpleasantness itself?"

The frown turned into a scowl. "Be careful with your words, Nishiguchi-san. Your, organization, is tolerated, but without formal standing you have little ground to appeal from."

"I am not here to make appeals, _colonel_," Nishiguchi said. "I am here to tell you not to involve the Sumiyoshi-kai with your petty little dispute with the UN."

Hirokawa did his best to keep his face impassive. Now this was unexpected. How had a bunch of criminals learned about the UN investigation? Was their intelligence network that widespread? A possibility, and a worrying one.

"If the Sumiyoshi-kai does not believe itself capable of carrying out our request, then of course it is your right to decline them," Hirokawa said smoothly.

The men accompanying Nishiguchi bristled at the blatant slight but the oyabun himself simply snorted.

"If the JSSDF had the courage to actually face the UN to begin with, you would have never needed to resort to outside help."

Hirokawa reminded himself that Nishiguchi had not become oyabun of the Sumiyoshi-kai by accident. The man was capable and intelligent, combinations that made him potentially very dangerous as an enemy. Yet he had been the one that called the meeting, so he was obviously after something.

"Then is this simply to formalize the breaking of our mutual, association?" Hirokawa asked.

"That depends entirely on the extent to which the JSSDF is prepared to make amends," Nishiguchi said.

Hirokawa raised an eyebrow. "Amends?"

"The UN currently has several of my men in custody, men whom ventured into Tokyo-3 because of your request. I want them released."

Hirokawa pursed his lip. "You ask for something that is beyond our control."

"On the contrary, it is perfectly within your power to see to the release of my mine. If you have the courage to accept the responsibility for your actions."

The room fell deathly silent as Hirokawa and the JSSDF soldiers accompanying him registered the subtext within Nishiguchi's words.

"You, want me, to turn myself into the UN," Hirokawa said slowly.

"Is it not you that conjured up this scheme in the first place?" Nishiguchi replied. "Or are you implying that a higher authority handed you marching orders? A higher authority, such as General Suzaku?"

The hands twitched on the JSSDF soldiers, a motion did not go unnoticed by Nishiguchi's men. Theirs too began wandering towards their weapons. Hirokawa glowered at Nishiguchi but the older man seemed utterly unimpressed.

"General Suzaku has nothing to do with this," Hirokawa stated.

Nishiguchi snorted. "I somehow doubt that. Regardless of whether he ordered it or not, you have his sanction."

The colonel regarded Nishiguchi carefully, trying to read the man. That proved far more difficult than he was accustomed to, the oyabun was very careful in hiding his thoughts.

"What makes you think the UN would release your men if I turned myself in to them?" Hirokawa asked. "Unless you've cut a deal with them?"

"Oh I have a deal alright," Nishiguchi said, surprising Hirokawa with his bluntness. "They've already assured me that if I deliver your head, my men walk."

Guns on both sides snapped up and soon the guards were in a standoff. Throughout all this however neither Hirokawa nor Nishiguchi seemed overly concerned at the weapons pointing in their direction.

"Stand down," the colonel ordered after a few moments of silence.

"But sir!"

"I said stand down!" Hirokawa barked. "If the Sumiyoshi-kai really wanted me dead, they could have resorted to assassination instead of this charade."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the soldiers began lowering their sidearms. The yakuza thugs did likewise.

"This isn't about your men," Hirokawa said. "You don't really believe the UN would release them just for me."

"Of course not," Nishiguchi said. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed and almost gleaming. "You, colonel, have gotten the Sumiyoshi-kai embroiled in something much bigger than just domestic politics or corporate warfare. You've gotten us dragged into an international incident. If the UN decides we're a nuisance it won't matter what you think, they'll wipe us out and there's nothing you can do to protect us."

"So this is about getting the UN off your back," Hirokawa said. "And you think I can help somehow, even with what you just said?"

Nishiguchi straightened and nodded. "What I need is leverage, something that will be just enough to make the UN squirm but not enough to make them think of us as a threat. Something that'll make taking us out is more inconvenient than just simply ignoring us. And you're going to provide that leverage, or I just might take my chances with the UN's offer."

Hirokawa looked at the oyabun and marveled at the roundabout way the man had taken to get to this point. Then again he supposed Nishiguchi had done this to make a point.

"And what, do you think I possess, that would fall into this category?" Hirokawa asked.

"This investigation," Nishiguchi said. "I want details. I want to know why the UN is going after you. I want to know enough that if I decide to go public, I blow the UN's chances to settle it the way they want."

That, was a very dangerous tactic, and one that Hirokawa was almost certain would blow up in the Sumiyoshi-kai's faces. But, was that so bad? If they did try to blackmail the UN, something told him that that UN auditor would react by leaving the syndicate as a bloody smear in the annals of history. Which would of course conveniently clean up any loose ends as far as the JSSDF was concerned. There was of course the risk that the syndicate would try to further blackmail in the JSSDF with any information that Hirokawa provided, but in all honesty the situation would not become any worse than what the UN investigation was already threatening. Yes, this was an acceptable risk.

"Alright then," Hirokawa said as he took a seat. "You might want to sit down for this. It might take a while."

* * *

"...and without sufficient shock dampeners the pilots eventually suffer from internal trauma."

Kaji hit stop on the recorder and looked over at the prime minister. Whereas that man's face was a stony blank, Suzaku's was one of smoldering fury while Hiraga's was one of disgust. The UN inspector let the silence hang for several more seconds before speaking.

"I will have to insist that Colonel Hirokawa be taken into custody, in light of his obvious complicacy and knowledge of what was happening to the trainees."

"Absolutely not!" Suzaku roared.

Kaji frowned. "General, Colonel Hirokawa is one of the primary suspects in our investigation. While we were still gathering evidence we were prepared to allow him to remain at large, but in light of the newly obtained information that situation is no longer acceptable."

"Colonel Hirokawa is an officer of excellent standing in the JSSDF," Suzaku spat. "The Trident is a Japanese project. The UN has no authority over either!"

"Several aspects of the Trident program are in blatant violation of international law," Kaji replied coolly, "laws that Japan itself is a signatory to. If Japan wishes to retain its good standing within the international community, it must obey those laws."

The man took out a thin packet of paper and placed them before the prime minister.

"This is the formal arrest warrant for Colonel Hirokawa. I expect it to be executed without delay."

"This is a farce!" Suzaku snapped. "We will never hand over the colonel!"

"Suzaku," the prime minister said coldly. "Be quiet."

"Sir!?"

"I said quiet!"

Even Kaji was surprised at the roar of the prime minister's voice. The man was known to generally be soft spoken but firm. For him to raise his voice was, well, Kaji could not remember it ever happening.

"I will have the attorney general examine this warrant," the prime minister said. "Should it be in order, we will of course carry it out."

"I would recommend that the review be carried out without delay," Kaji said. "The UN charter does allow for UN forces to directly execute warrants if it is felt that the member nation charged with doing so is, unable to carry out the charge."

The prime minister nodded ever so slightly in acknowledgment of the point.

"Then good day Mr. Prime Minister," Kaji said with a bow. "Generals."

Suzaku glared at the man. "You are a traitor to your country, Kaji Ryoji! You've turned your back on Japan and I will see you answer for it!"

Kaji raised an eyebrow. "The JSSDF is not Japan, General. You are not Japan. That you seem to be forgetting this would suggest that your definition of patriotism is, anything but."

Before Suzaku could muster a response Kajir turned about and took his leave. He could not help but smile in satisfaction at his parting shot. The general made it just so, satisfying.

* * *

Misato yawned as the smile of breakfast lured her from her room. Today was Rei's turn to cook and even if the girl only made vegetarian fare, it was still damn tasty.

"Morning," Misato said halfheartedly.

Asuka glanced up from the German magazine she was reading and raised an eyebrow. "You managed to beat the baka this morning. I wonder what other miracles will happen today."

"Har har," Misato said with another yawn. "Though, is Shinji-kun really not up yet?"

"Nope. Why don't you go return the favor and drag him out of bed today?"

"Probably a good idea," Misato said as she turned towards the boy's room. "Wouldn't want you late for school."

Asuka went back to reading her magazine and had just flipped the page when a scream sounded. She was on her feet almost instantly and charged towards the source. She found Misato standing planted in Shinji's doorway, blocking the way.

"What the hell's going on!?" Asuka demanded.

Then she managed to look over the woman's shoulder and let loose a scream of her own.

On the bed Shinji was sitting up, but he was obviously struggling to do so. A rash covered much of his body, the spots a dark purple. It was his eye however that drew the most attention, his right a bright crimson instead of the usual serene blue.

"M….Mi…sato….san," the boy muttered. "I….don't feel….so…good."

Back in NERV, the klaxons began blaring. The sensors had detected a pattern blue.

End of Chapter 24

Forgot to give chapter 23 a chapter title, that has been remedied.

I'm mildly curious as to why everyone keeps thinking the Children are getting off easy. I mean, has literally no one considered the possibility that by giving them stronger attachments, the opportunities that they could get hurt worse increases? Like now. I don't think I've had a cliffhanger this, cliffhangy since the thing with Soren about a dozen and a half chapters back.

One comment regarding minor characters. As an author, it actually is very difficult to create depth for every minor character you introduce. Not impossible, but difficult. The problem isn't even the need to write more scenes to give them that depth while making sure they don't overshadow the main characters. Really, the problem is keeping track of who has done what, knows who, and said what. At this point I am actually having trouble keeping all of the relations straight in my head and making a mistake only reduces the believability of the story. I'd like to avoid that, which is why here and there I will take shortcuts. Some characters are there to serve only a single purpose while others I have bigger plans for. The amount of 'depth' each character gets reflects the overall relevance they have to the overall plot. I just don't have the space in my brain to try anything more complex. Especially seeing as I am doing this for fun. And feedback of course.


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Optionen

"I need a medical team to my apartment now!" Misato screamed into the cellphone.

To the woman's credit less than a minute passed from her discovery of Shinji's condition and her hitting the emergency call button on her cell.

"Ma'am, can you and the pilots get to base?" Hyuga responded. "The MAGI just detected a pattern blue."

"A-shit! I'm coming in now, but I need a medical team on standby! Something's happened to Shinji-kun!"

"The-the Third Child? What's going on ma'am?"

"I don't know! Get that team on standby now! And alert Amanda!"

Misato slammed the phone shut and began running.

"Asuka, Rei, get my clothes and meet me down by the car!" Misato ordered.

"What the hell is going on!?" the redhead demanded. "Where are you going!?"

"WE are headed to HQ," Misato said. "The MAGI's detected an Angel incoming."

The girl's face paled. She dashed off. Misato quickly wrapped Shinji in his sheets and gently picked up the boy.

"Everything's gonna be alright Shin-chan," she said. "C'mon, stay with me here."

Shinji's head rose ever so slightly as the boy tried to meet her gaze but it quickly slumped back down. Grimacing, Misato carried him toward the front door where the other two pilots were already waiting. Outside Misato could see several of the Section-2 agents.

"Move it!" Misato ordered. "Once we're on the road clear the way!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Another agent was standing by the elevator, having already called it up and keeping the doors open. The other agents did not even bother, charging towards the staircase. That might well have been the faster way out, save for the boy Misato was cradling in her arms.

"Asuka, Rei, go with them," Misato ordered. "Get in their cars, I don't want us wasting any time down there all trying to pile into my car."

The two girls nodded and dashed off after their details. Misato took in a deep breath. Things were going to be okay, she told herself. They had to be.

* * *

Gendo had returned at the end of last week to find Tokyo-3 caught up in the midst of the auditor-general's latest scheme. For the most part Amanda's antagonization of the JSSDF meant little to him seeing as those elements that did serve as conventional support for NERV had all transferred to the UN. Besides, having her distracted with her little crusade meant she stayed out of his affairs so he considered it a worthwhile trade. There were more important things requiring his attention however, including the development of the dummy plug. Akagi was making progress, the tests recording the baseline patterns of the EVA pilots had been completed. In truth they had only needed data from Rei and Shinji but excluding the Second would have prompted awkward questions. The girl was too inquisitive by far.

Ikari frowned. In the middle of the tests Sommer had gone to the command center and ordered the sensitivity of the pattern sensors significantly increased. So significantly in fact they had begun taking up a substantial percentage of the MAGI's compute cycles. The only reason Gendo could think of for doing so was if the auditor was expecting an Angel to make an appearance. Or at least something that generated an AT-field. What did she know that he did not? It would not be unheard of for SEELE to conceal information, was it possible the old men knew, or thought they knew, far more precisely when Angels might emerge? And if so, what did it mean that one had not appeared when their agent apparently expected it to? So many possibilities. So many opportunities. If SEELE's control over their scenario was indeed more tenuous than what the old men believed, perhaps that was something he could exploit. If nothing else he needed some way to distract SEELE's dogs when the time came.

Alarms began blaring. Ikari stood and proceeded calmly out of his office as the detection of an Angel was announced.

"We still haven't localized it?" Ritsuko said as he leaned over Maya's shoulder.

"It's, it's narrowing down and is definitely moving, but, it's already inside the city?" the younger woman said in confusion.

Ritsuko frowned. "That's, the residential district Misato lives in."

"Doctor," a voice sounded behind them all. "Status."

Ritsuko spun around to see Gendo settling into his seat. "We're trying to localize, but the Angel is throwing up a lot of interference. Its wave pattern keeps shifting so we're having trouble locking on."

"Wait, I've got it!" Maya suddenly cried out. "It's definitely on the move, pulling up CCTV feeds!"

The feeds popped up on the main projectors, revealing a mini-convoy of Section-2 SUVs surrounding a blue Renault Alpine that everyone there recognized.

"What's going on?" Hyuga said. "The, AT-field is moving along with the colonel?"

Ritsuko's eyes went wide. "Misato called in a medical team for Shinji-kun."

A deep chill swept the men and women manning the stations. All of them remembered an eerily parallel event that occurred just a few short months ago. An event that ended in an extremely painful tragedy.

"Have assault teams six, seven, and nine meet with the colonel," Gendo said. "They are to escort her and the Third Child to the medical wing and then establish a cordon around the area."

Hyuga blinked in mild confusion at the order, his mind taking a few moments to realize that the commander had not ordered the termination of his own son in order to eliminate the Angel apparently infesting him. Instead he was ordering that Shinji be taken to the medical bay.

"Dr. Akagi, you will examine the pilot after he is secured to determine the extent of his condition and whether he can be safely rid of the Angel."

Another surprise, though this one was made milder by the commander's previous orders. He seemed willing to at least try to save Shinji instead of killing the boy as a liability. Was this a sign of fatherly concern? Or did he simply not want to lose Shinji's usefulness as an EVA pilot? For now that question remained unanswered.

* * *

As Hirokawa was let out of the car, in cuffs of course, he noticed that the base was a flurry of activity. Quite a few units were obviously marshaling for deployment and several AFVs were already rolling into the city.

"What's happening?" he asked the soldier escorting him.

"Nothing that concerns you," the private responded.

Hirokawa scowled at the man but the soldier only snorted. It was obvious none of the former JSSDF soldiers that formed the UN regiment thought highly of him, especially if they bought all the nonsense the UN auditor and inspector had been spouting. Then again these were the same men and women who had abandoned their country to serve the so-called multinational coalition that was the United Nations. As far as Hirokawa was concerned they might as well have been traitors.

Looking around he noticed many people in civilian dress streaming towards the hospital. For that matter he himself was being led that way. From what he recalled the base had its own shelters buried deep beneath the hospital, which was for some reason the most heavily armored building on site. And if everyone was headed for the shelters, that could mean only one thing. An Angel had been detected. But if that was the case, where were the alarms? Was this a drill of some sort? Hirokawa frowned thoughtfully. Or was this an opportunity? He would wait, and watch, and prepare for any openings that emerged.

* * *

When Misato finally reached the Geofront she was greeted with the sight of over a dozen heavily armed soldiers in full tactical gear.

"What the hell is going on!?" she demanded as she got out of the car, ignoring the fact that she had yet to have a chance to get fully dressed.

"Ma'am," the lieutenant in command saluted. "We've been ordered by Commander Ikari to escort you and the Third Child to the medical wing."

Misato's eyes narrowed but as the soldiers made no move to try and relieve her of Shinji she was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, for now.

"Alright then, let's go. Asuka, Rei, get suited up, if we need up needing an AT-field, you two need to be ready."

Rei nodded and immediately headed off to the lockers. Asuka gave the boy one last pained look before hurrying after. Misato allowed herself a slight smile. The German girl was not hiding her concern very well. That said volumes about how much she had matured. And how much she cared about Shinji. Grimly the major marched toward the medical wing, doing her best to be gentle with her boy. She took comfort in the shallow breathing she could still feel.

Ritsuko and surprisingly Amanda were both waiting for her when they arrived, the trip cut down to mere minutes thanks to a cart the tactical team had commandeered.

"Get him onto the bed," Ritsuko ordered. "Then you need to go through decontamination."

"I'm fine," Misato insisted.

"Misato, do what she says," Amanda said. "We can't risk both you and Shinji getting infected."

The woman opened her mouth to protest again but Amanda cut her off.

"Please. Go. Ritsuko and I'll take good care of him."

Misato closed her mouth and shifted her gaze to her other old friend. She finally nodded.

"I'm trusting you to take good care of my, Ritsuko."

The doctor returned the nod. She still had enough of a heart to do that much at least.

* * *

Soren, was having a very bad day. He had gotten back to Tokyo-3 late the night before, or maybe really early in the morning was more accurate, after having dropped off the recording of the yakuza-JSSDF meeting with Kaji and had gotten maybe two hours of sleep before his connection with Shinji damn near blew up again. The infection by Ireul had struck like lightning and it had taken a great deal of power and energy to stem it. It was a damn good thing Misato had checked in on the boy when she did as otherwise Amanda would have needed to fake a call to the boy to get their attention. Either way with much of his energy focused on keeping the boy alive Soren himself was almost effectively bedridden. Almost, but not quite. He had just enough concentration left over to discuss with the others just how they were going to get themselves out of this latest and damn near catastrophic mess.

"Okay, what are our options?" Klinge began.

"It depends on whether Ritsuko is able to come up with something," Amanda said. "We know that if Ireul had attacked the MAGI like it was fucking supposed to, she'd have come up with a solution."

"And assuming she's as inventive this time around?" Klinge said.

"Then we're fine. The problem is if she can't figure out a way to kill the Angel without also killing Shinji," Amanda said. "If that's the case, we're going to need to intervene. Either by giving her enough information so that she does come up with something, or we deal with it ourselves."

"How long do we have?" the general asked.

"Twelve hours," Soren answered immediately.

No one asked if the man was sure or whether the deadline could be extended.

"Do we have any ideas on how Ritsuko could deal with this?" Klinge asked.

"Yes, we do," another woman said, a Caucasian who was actually blond instead of the faux dye the doctor in question used. "We apply a similar principle as was used to defeat Ireul when it infected the simulation bodies, trick it into identifying itself as part of the system instead of as an outside attacker."

The others regarded the woman in mild confusion.

"You're going to have to explain that one Rachel," Klinge said.

The woman adjusted her glasses even if none of them were physically here. "The concept is straightforward. Ireul is a cell-based Angel, one that is constantly evolving. When it infected the simulation bodies, it was tricked into self-terminating by evolving into a dead end. We need to do something similar here, trick it into evolving to perfectly suit its environment, in this case one Shinji Ikari."

The others, all the others, looked at the woman.

"That's your brilliant plan?" Amanda exclaimed. "Turn Shinji into a human-Angel hybrid?"

"Well at that point the Angel's cells would be effectively indistinguishable from that of the boy's, so he technically would not be a hybrid."

"No offense Rachel," Klinge said, "but that has got to be one of your more insane ideas."

"Your opinion is noted," the woman said dryly.

"Excuse me Dr. Ackermann," Soren said, "but why can we not simply trick Ireul into self-terminating like with the MAGI infection? Why do we need to, effectively integrate it into Shinji?"

"Because it never actually infected the MAGI," Ackermann said. "It infected the simulation bodies in the Pribnow box and was hacking the MAGI from there. I assure you if it had actually infected the MAGI systems directly, a different approach would have been taken."

The others pondered the point, sifting through the collective memories and verifying the doctor's words. The conclusion was, ultimately, inevitable.

"Alright, I can try to point Ritsuko in the right direction," Amanda said. "Doctor, could you also put something together as a fallback?"

Ackermann shook her head. "I'd need direct access to do that."

"Damn," Amanda muttered. "We need a backup. Ritsuko's capable, but she's not perfect."

"Soren, could you kill the Angel without harming Shinji?" Klinge asked.

The German man's head tilted slightly. "Thirty-seventy, not in our favor."

"Then we use Terminus."

Heads turned, this time towards the Japanese brunette in combat fatigues.

"It's too early," Amanda said with a scowl. "And it's only supposed to be used in the direst of circumstances."

"And Shinji dying on us doesn't count?" Kayabuki retorted.

The woman had a point, but was it good enough?

"Amanda is correct though," Soren said. "It is too early to use Terminus. Neither she nor I can remove ourselves from this score at this stage, not only would it be extremely suspicious, we need to be around to keep a leash on SEELE so they don't deviate too much."

"It's too early for either of you to use it," Kayabuki countered. "It's not too early for me."

Seconds ticked away in silence as everyone absorbed just what the colonel was suggesting.

"You, may not have a high enough synchronicity to use it for Shinji," Soren said very carefully.

"Bullshit," Kayabuki snapped, and suddenly she was no longer the thirty-some year old UN colonel, she was a fourteen year old girl wearing the uniform of Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School and staring at them with clear green eyes. "Shinji loved me and I loved him. We were together until the very end, so don't try telling me I don't have enough 'synchronicity' with him to save his life now."

The form shifted and once more Colonel Midori Kayabuki stood before them, that face no less determined.

"You understand that if you use Terminus, you will be removed from this score," Soren finally said. "Officially we'd need to come up with a cover for your death."

"I gave my life protecting Shinji when the Angel resisted being ejected from him," Kayabuki said. "Can't think of a better way to go out than that."

None of the expressions looking at her could be described as happy. Amanda in particular seemed like she really wanted to try dissuading Kayabuki from this course of action. But the woman knew what was at stake and knew that if things really did reach that point, they would pay whatever it cost to keep Shinji from dying.

"And the regiment?" Amanda asked.

"I'm sure you could swing a brevet promotion for Kudo," the colonel said with a smirk. "He's got his head on straight and he'll listen to you if I tell him to in my will."

Amanda muttered something inaudible but the others did not need to hear the words to know what the woman meant.

"We'll keep the option in reserve," Soren finally said for all of them.

Kayabuki simply nodded.

"Putting all that aside," Klinge said, "do we know how Shinji got infected in the first place?"

This time it was Soren that was the subject of everyone's gaze.

"I'm a bit busy right now," the German man stated. "Someone else will need to do the backtracking to find the point of divergence."

"Fair enough," said Klinge. "Amanda? You're next closest."

"I'll try," Amanda replied, "but walking the score has never been my strong suit. And Asuka's going through some spectacular moods swings right now that're playing merry hell with my own concentration."

"I can help mitigate some of that," Hayashima spoke up. "I can't synchronize to the same degree with Asuka-san, but it should be enough to at least smooth out the worst of it."

"Thanks," Amanda said appreciatively.

"Then it sounds like we have a plan," Klinge said. "I suggest we all get to it. And, good luck. All of you.

* * *

Ritsuko pushed the needle against one of the purple pores as she tried to draw some blood. It broke the skin but then refused to go any deeper, the flickering that was just barely visible saying it all. The doctor grimaced. Just her luck to be dealing with a subdermal AT-field.

"Sempai? The MRI is ready."

Ritsuko nodded. "Alright, let's put him in it."

The boy was gently slid into the machine and Ritsuko moved to a terminal as scans of his body were collated and displayed. The areas of infection were blindingly obvious, a much darker hue against the rest of the body. The extent of the infection was also revealed, the boy's right side up to his shoulders almost blacked out. His heart and left lung however were still clear, though how Ritsuko was not quite clear on. Somehow the boy's body was fighting the infection, holding it at bay and keeping just enough of his vital organs free that his brain could still be supplied with oxygen. Ritsuko grimaced.

"Well?"

Turning about Ritsuko saw Misato standing behind her also wearing a gas tight hazmat suit.

"We've determined the extent of the infection but not much else," Ritsuko said. "And why are you even here in the first place?"

"That's my boy laying in there," Misato responded. "Like hell anyone's keeping me out."

"I suppose he is," Ritsuko said with a sigh. "Just don't get in my way here, Misato, if you want me to have any chance of saving him."

As Shinji was pulled out of the MRI chamber Ritsuko moved to the boy's other side. They had had no problems putting him on an IV via a non-infected portion, so trying to draw blood there might pay dividends. Ritsuko picked up the syringe again. Only one way to find out.

* * *

"The Angel appears to be a colony of microscopic organisms," Ritsuko said, her face slightly distorted by the combination of the video feed and the hazmat suit she was still in. "They're in Shinji-kun's bloodstream and so throughout his body, but they seem to be having trouble establishing themselves in areas they have not already completely compromised."

"Suggestions, doctor," Ikari said from the conference room.

"We've tried a variety of methods so far," Ritsuko said. "The individual cells when isolated from the greater whole seem to lose, access, for the lack of a better explanation, of the energy that allows them to indefinitely maintain an AT-field. One possibility would be to try to flush his system, drain Shinji-kun of blood to pull out the cells while injecting him with new blood."

"Wouldn't the bleeding weaken his system in the process?" Amanda asked, attending from the observation bay outside of the quarantined medical room. "That could risk undermining his body's own defenses against the infection."

"And there is no guarantee that the Angel will not simply reproduce to replenish the cells lost," Ikari said, to the surprise of several. Then again the man seemed less concerned about Shinji than about whether Ritsuko's proposal would actually kill the Angel.

"If the infection is biological in nature, could we try some sort of antibiotic?" Amanda asked. "Something to boost Shinji's immune system and have it wipe out the infection itself."

"We considered that," Ritsuko said, "but the Angel is evolving too quickly. We've already picked up a couple dozen different antibodies floating around in his bloodstream, how his immune system has managed to even keep up at this rate I have no idea, but it's definitely being slowly outpaced. We've managed to catch several, generations, of the Angel's cellular structure and it's changing itself to more closely resemble regular human cells. Eventually Shinji-kun's immune system won't be able to distinguish between his own cells and those of the Angel's."

Amanda tried very hard to keep her voice level. "Then, would it be possible to reverse that on the Angel? Make it unable to distinguish between itself and Shinji-kun?"

The others attending the meeting all took on thoughtful expressions.

"Maybe," Ritsuko said. "It's, an idea worth pursuing, but at this point I'm not sure how we would achieve it."

Amanda nodded. The idea had been planted and Ritsuko seemed at least willing to contemplate it. Now the doctor needed to make the next discovery herself.

"Sempai!"

At hearing her protégé's call Ritsuko turned her head slightly. "Be right there Maya." She turned back to face the camera. "I need to go. I'll provide further updates as things develop."

The doctor walked away from the camera and Gendo terminated his own pickup without further ado, leaving Amanda alone. Well if the prick did not want to discuss anything else she was fine with that. Just as she turned off her own camera however the door to the observation room opened and two girls walked in.

"How is he?" Asuka asked immediately.

Amanda frowned. "Aren't you two supposed to be on standby?"

The redhead scowled. "We've been on standby for three hours now and no one will tell us anything. All I get from that Hyuga guy is that Dr. Akagi is working on it, but it's pretty obvious he has no idea what's going on down here either. So, how is he?"

Amanda supposed she should not have been surprised at the younger girl's attitude, though seeing Rei tagging along was somewhat unexpected. But from the other girl's expression it was clear that she too was very worried about Shinji.

"Ritsuko's made a few conclusions about the Angel," Amanda said, "but we're still not sure how we can purge it from Shinji's body without also killing him.

The scowl turned into a frown as Asuka gazed thoughtfully through the window. "We can't just flush his bodily fluids?"

"That wouldn't guarantee some wouldn't be left behind in his organs," Amanda replied. "Assuming of course the Angel would even let us try. It does have an AT-field after all."

"So? Isn't that why you had me and Rei on standby? In case we needed to use our EVAs to neutralize its AT-field?"

The girl had a point, Amanda mused. And Ritsuko had mentioned that when isolated the individual Angel cells were highly vulnerable. If they managed to flush out the majority, would that be enough? A very quick veto from halfway across the city shot down that idea. Amanda grimaced.

"Shinji's immune system is just barely keeping the Angel at bay," Amanda said, repeating the explanation that she herself had just received. "If we do flush his system like that, the shock is likely to cause enough complications that we might not get enough of the Angel out before it could overcome his defenses."

The scowl was back. "So? What do we do then?"

"We do nothing," Amanda said. "This is not an enemy the EVAs were designed to win against. Right now what we need to do is trust in Ritsuko. This is way more her area of expertise."

The girl muttered something in frustration. "I don't like sitting around doing nothing."

"Neither do I, but sometimes we need to know when to delegate," Amanda said. "That is an important part of being a leader and an officer, Asuka."

"Yeah," the girl said unhappily. "Yeah, I get it." She pressed a hand against the window. "But a leader is supposed to be fighting alongside her troops. And Baka Shinji's fighting all by himself, again, while we're sitting on our asses."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Ah, I see."

Something about the tone set Asuka on edge as she looked over at her mentor. "What."

Amanda did not let the flatness of the girl's ton perturb her. "No, no, I understand, you want to be here for Shinji. It's perfectly understandable."

The girl's jaw dropped. It did not stay down long as she exploded. "What the hell are you talking about!? He's a fellow pilot! And a friend! There's nothing else going on!"

"Right, you want to be there for him as a friend, that's perfectly understandable," Amanda said with a most serious nod. "What else did you think I meant?"

Asuka looked ready to jump the older woman but settled for shooting her a glare instead. Amanda's face however softened into a smile as she rustled the girl's hair.

"How about this, you two can do this in shifts. One person goes on standby and the other stays here, or does whatever she wants, and you two switch every two hours."

The redhead nodded grudgingly. "Now you're talking."

"Good girl," Amanda said, eliciting another glare from the girl before switching to English randomly. "Okay, who's on first?"

"Oh don't you even start with that," Asuka growled.

"I will go," Rei suddenly said, cutting short any further complaints from the redhead.

The other two looked over at the girl as she headed for the door.

"Are you sure about that Rei?" Amanda asked the departing pilot.

Rei paused at the door. "A favor." And then the door closed.

Amanda chuckled. "You better thank her later."

"Yeah," Asuka said, somewhat subdued.

"And remember, you need to be in your EVA ready to go before Rei can get off standby."

Asuka snorted. "So it's not really a two hour break."

"Duty calls, Asuka."

"Fine, fine."

The girl turned to watch through the window again. She remained rooted to the spot for the entire time.

* * *

"This is interesting," Ritsuko said, completely unaware of the drama unfolding on the other side of the window.

"What?" Misato asked, equally focused on this side.

"The Angel, its cells are functioning like a completely separate nervous system," Ritsuko said. "It's, almost like a biological computer."

"You mean like the MAGI?" Misato asked.

The doctor nodded. "There is a striking parallel, at least.

"Sempai, does that mean the programming interfaces we use for the MAGI might also be able to tap into the Angel?"

"Maybe," Ritsuko said. "It's certainly worth a try at least. Alright Maya, I need you to go and grab the interface equipment along with some spares."

"Yes ma'am, right away."

The younger woman quickly vacated her station and headed towards the decontamination chamber that separated the bay from the rest of the facility.

"It sounds like you have a plan," Misato said.

"An idea at least," Ritsuko said. "Amanda's suggestion about tricking the Angel into thinking it was the same as Shinji's cells was interesting, but unviable without a way to influence the Angel. But if really can tap into the Angel's, programming as it were, like we do with the MAGI's, then we might be able to rewrite that programming."

"Wait, trick it into thinking it's the same as Shinji's cells, are you saying you're going to leave the Angel in his body?"

Misato, was not an idiot, Ritsuko mused. Then again that was an unbecoming thought. Her friend might intuitively reach for a hammer for many solutions but she still possessed a creative streak and strong intuition.

"At this point I'm not seeing any way of safely removing the Angel," Ritsuko told her friend. "It's so thoroughly embedded in about forty percent of his body that we'd literally need to amputate to get rid of them. But if we can render the Angel itself inert, make its cells believe they're nothing more than cells that make up Shinji's body, then we can save his life and keep him whole."

"I see," Misato said, still sounding somewhat unhappy but raising no further protest.

With that out of the way Ritsuko resumed her examination of the Angel's structure. With any luck she could get a head start on composing the new 'program' before all of the equipment was set up. There was no guarantee the Angel would be so cooperative as to not try infecting that system either after all and the quicker they could neutralize it, the greater their chance of success.

* * *

"To be honest, maybe I don't care about the fate of humanity and the world. I may hold the position I have now, but at first it was only because I wanted to get at least a little closer to my deceased father that I joined NERV." Misato looked at the boy facing away from her. The woman's wounds were still mending, her left arm in a sling. "It was the same reason you piloted the EVA, because Commander Ikari needed you. That's why I poured my own hopes and feelings onto you. I know that they would burden you. I also know that you're disappointed with what has happened since you started piloting the EVA. But even so, I-"

Misato reached out and managed to grab hold of the boy's hand, but Shinji's reaction far exceeded any expectations she might have had. The boy jerked his arm, slapping aside her hand.

"I don't care about your feelings," Shinji said, still refusing to look at her. "Just like you never cared about mine."

He stepped through the door and it closed behind him.

* * *

The phone rang and Soren woke. He had let his body fall unconscious so as to conserve energy, though he did not quite need to do so. Picking up his smartphone he saw it was Kayabuki.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Hey Soren, I'd like to ask a favor," the woman said. "Do you mind coming down to the base?"

Soren rubbed his eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, I thought it'd be nice if we had lunch together."

The German frowned. At first glance the request sounded completely frivolous but he knew Kayabuki well enough to know it was anything but.

"Alright, I'll be there in half an hour or so."

A bit later Soren was helped into the car by one of his Section-2 guards. The German grimaced as the aches in his body thumped away. Technically he still could have driven himself over to the UN base but he was trying to conserve his energy for an actual emergency. Dropping by to visit Kayabuki did not fall within that range, even if it was still important.

"You alright sir?" the agent asked.

"Tolerable," Soren lied.

The agent, a trusted member of Detachment A, raised an eyebrow but said nothing in response. Then again even someone outside the collective would have probably picked up on the lie at this point. The drive to the base did not take long though entering was less straightforward than usual. Quite a few AFVs were returning to base, having been mustered in response to the initial detection of the AT-field but now being withdrawn seeing as there was little they could do against Ireul. Soren knew that a few units were still out in the field however, stationed just outside the Geofront and ready to support NERV's tactical teams in case the worst happened and the Angel began spreading beyond its thus far single victim.

"Yo, Soren," Kayabuki greeted with a wide grin, Kudo standing beside her.

"Colonel," Soren greeted as he gingerly climbed out of the car.

"Ah no need to be so formal," Kayabuki said with a wave. "You've known me since university after all."

Kudo seemed taken aback and Soren regarded the other man. "You have something to say, major?"

"Uh, no sir, it's just, I was not aware you and the colonel were previously acquainted."

"We were in the karate club together," Kayabuki said. "Though it was only for a semester. Soren beat the crap out of all the other black belts, really taught them a lesson in humility. I can still see their faces after getting so thoroughly trounced."

Soren snorted. "Your memory works in interesting ways."

"Why thank you," Kayabuki said, grin still plastered over her face. It lessened however as she looked Soren over. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'll manage," Soren replied. "So? Where shall we go for lunch?"

Beside Kayabuki Kudo's jaw had dropped as he stared at the German with a look of shock and, what could only be described as jealously.

"I have an office in the hospital," Kayabuki said. "It's nice and quite and should give us some privacy. C'mon."

Leaving the still gaping Kudo and the mildly amused Section-2 agents, the two headed towards the hospital.

"Why do you have an office in here?" Soren asked as they entered the building.

"Same reason Amanda knew it was safe to visit me with Katsuragi here," Kayabuki said. "This place still hasn't been bugged, so we'll be able to talk freely."

Soren nodded in acknowledgment of the point and said nothing else until they were inside.

"Did you make this," Soren asked as he sank down into one of the chairs.

Kayabuki nodded. "I haven't had the chance to actually cook something for a while now. I think before basic? Pretty sure I haven't lost my touch either, so enjoy."

Soren actually chuckled at the woman's mannerism. "I suppose in some respects you really have not changed."

"Of course not," Kayabuki said with a smile. "I am me after all, no matter what else may have happened. And you are you."

Soren's expression darkened slightly. "I'm sorry that I'm not him."

"No, you're not him," Kayabuki said, her own smile taking on a more sorrowful tinge. "But you're not hers either. And I understand why things had to be set up the way it was. I'm a bit jealous of her, but at the same time a bit relieved. I don't know if I could have lived the, lie, for so long."

Soren held Kayabuki's gaze. "I have tried to make it not a lie."

The woman nodded. "You've tried." The smile grew sadder. "But you can't deny the truth, just as you can't deny your heart. You're not him, for either of us."

"No, I'm not," Soren said as he picked up the chopsticks. "But that doesn't mean I can't stand in from time to time."

"And a pretty good stand-in you are," Kayabuki said, picking up her own.

Before either could get any food in their mouths however they both froze. The next second the two charged out the door. The gunshots sounded mere moments after that.

* * *

"You're looking better, Keita," Mana said.

"Yeah," Keita said. "They say that I should be able to start therapy next week. And maybe I'll even be able to go to school afterward."

"No maybes about it," Musashi said. "And don't be too eager, wait until you're getting your soul drained by the history lectures or your brain pounded by the math classes."

Mana giggled. "It's not that bad."

"Speak for yourself," a somewhat groggy voice said from the next bed over.

Musashi tensed but a quick hand on his shoulder by Mana kept him from rising. Shinn had been moved into the same room as Keita and was still on painkillers to deal with his cracked ribs so there were times when he drifted in and out. He had yet to actually apologize to Mana, but had not attempted to antagonize the girl or her friends any further. That may have had something to do with the letter from home that Keita mentioned the boy receiving, or at least Mana hoped. She did not want to have to hold a grudge against Shinn if she could avoid it.

"So what was all that commotion this morning?" Keita asked. "They moved us down to the shelters and then brought us back up again."

"Honestly, no idea," Musashi said. "Normally when we're sent into the shelters it's because of an Angel attack and the regiment was deploying units as well, but the platoons we're quartered with haven't gotten back yet and no one else is telling us anything."

"Maybe it was a drill," Mana suggested.

"Seemed a bit over the top for a drill," Musashi said. "Well, whatever. Once the lieutenant gets back we can try asking him. He's strict, but he's a pretty reasonable guy so long as you don't push any of his buttons. Like a certain sergeant does."

Mana puffed her cheeks in a pout. "Sergeant Kasahara is a responsible and dutiful NCO. Lieutenant Dojo should have no reason to complain."

"That's not what the lieutenant's assessment says," Musashi retorted.

Before Mana could respond the door to the room opened and the kids all turned about to see who it was. They instantly paled.

"Colonel?" Shinn said, conscious enough to register the newcomer and even recognize him, but not enough so to understand the ramifications of his presence, or of the gun he was drawing.

Musashi was the first to respond, grabbing the phone next to Keita's bed and throwing it at the colonel. The man ducked aside, drawing his weapon in one smooth motion and aimed. His target was not the boy. Mana ducked aside, just in time as two rounds slammed into Keita's bed. The boy jerked back, wincing in pain at the sudden motion but the pumping adrenaline keeping him going. He threw his sheets up, partially obscuring Hirokawa's view as his friends tried to find some sort of cover. In the small hospital room, that turned out to be very scarce.

"Colonel! What are you doing!" Shinn cried, the sound of gunfire fully waking him.

Hirokawa ignored the boy and charged into the room, sweeping aside the sheet. The action however provided cover for Musashi to leap at the man in an attempt to tackle him onto the ground. The colonel retreated a single step before regaining his balance and slammed his elbow into the boy's back. The sharp pain elicited a cry from Musashi as he lost his grip.

Mana wasted no time calling for her friend, instead grabbing another sheet and looping it around Hirokawa's arm. She pulled, trying to slam it into the wall and knock loose the pistol, but the older man was simply too strong. With a jerk he threw Mana off balance and the girl tumbled over the bed. That act however bought her some time as she got out of his line of sight. Taking advantage of her position, Mana crawled under the bed and kicked out at Hirokawa's legs. The man jumped aside, maneuvering into the room and took aim at the bed. Before he could fire however a vase smashed into his head.

The blow stunned the man for a mere moment, allowing Mana to kick out again. This time she succeeded in knocking his feet aside and the man's face slammed onto the bed end, finally eliciting a cry of pain from him. Keita pushed himself forward, landing a solid kick on the colonel's head. The blow staggered Hirokawa and he threw himself back. The renewed distance however gave him a clear shot. He raised his gun and pointed it at the boy.

The boom of gunfire sounded but the one that screamed in pain was Hirokawa himself. His wrist was a mangled mess, the gun falling from his limb hand as he desperately clutched his wound. The light peeking through the holes in the wall revealed the source of the wound, someone having shot through it to hit the man. The next moment Kayabuki was in the room and slammed her knee against Hirokawa's head. The man crumbled into a heap.

"Mana!" Kayabuki called.

The girl peeked out from under the bed, her body shaking uncontrollably. Kayabuki immediately pulled her out and embraced the girl tightly. The shaking subsided slightly, but the girl was nowhere near composed as she buried her face in the older woman's chest. Looking over, Kayabuki saw a very pale Soren enter. He slumped down against the wall, not even able to put away his pistol.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Four hours," Soren stated flatly.

Kayabuki's eyes widened. The response to rescue Mana and her friends had drawn away Soren's attention from Shinji. They were supposed to still have eight hours before the boy's immune system was completely compromised and they needed to resort to Terminus. Now, that time was halved. The question now was, would Ritsuko be able to reprogram the Angel with just four hours? Or would Kayabuki really end up having to take her leave of this score prematurely?

End of Chapter 25

Who said anything about the Kirishima scenario coming to a close just because Ireul showed up? I did say that when the scenario started there were going to be primary, secondary, and tertiary arcs parallel to each other.

Another new sidestepper, and a few more hints about who some of the sidesteppers are. Not what, who. Though who they are is also an important element of what they are. Whether this blows a hole in anyone's theory is, well, up to them at this point. I suppose to pick up on some of the hints you do need to be a bit more familiar with the secondary canon though. As for a hint, I remind my readers that there was a remake of the Girlfriend of Steel game that, expanded upon the original in a very specific way.

I'm aware that this is officially a Shinji x Asuka fic. What am I saying, I'm the author and I set that relationship tag. Though to be frank the, situation, is a lot more complicated than that. For the, native Shinji and Asuka, the development of their relationship has been intentionally slow. One must keep in mind that Shinji lost Mayumi merely a few months ago. He's not going to get over that that quickly. And frankly Asuka wouldn't respect him very much if he did. But the distance between the two is slowly closing. For the, sidesteppers, the whole relationship situation is a giant mess. Why that is the case will become apparent later.

I think there's going to be at least two more chapters before this arc gets wrapped up, then maybe a breather chapter. And then things start getting much, much messier. And bloodier.

Anyway, drop me a line of what you think.


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Abschied

"The hell!?"

The doctor's exclamation brought Misato flying over as Shinji began convulsing.

"Shinji-kun!"

"Hold him down!" Ritsuko ordered.

The major needed no urging to do just that and soon enough she and several of the attending technicians were piled upon the boy to keep him still.

"The Angel's trying to hack into the terminal!" Maya exclaimed.

"Sever the connection!"

Another tech came forth, axe in hand and slammed it through the cabling. The jumble of characters on the screen faded and Shinji slowly calmed down.

"What the hell just happened!?" Misato demanded.

"I don't know," Ritsuko said. "We were probing the Angel's neural net so my bet is on we triggered a defensive reaction."

"Is he okay?" Misato asked.

The doctor looked over Shinji, prying open one eye and noting the response as she shone a light. "So far. Get him into the MRI again, I want to see if the infection's spread any."

"Yes doctor."

Ritsuko walked over to another terminal and waited as the MRI did its work. She did not even need to wait for the composite image to frown.

"Well?"

"The, Angel has compromised his other lung," Ritsuko said. "Partially at least. Crap, that is not good."

"If it manages to completely compromise the lung, how is he going to get oxygen into his bloodstream?" Misato asked, immediately picking up the ramifications.

"He won't be able to. We need him on a CPB pump now."

Misato blanched. "Do we even have a heart surgeon onsite!?"

"There's one assigned to the UN hospital," Amanda said. "He's already prepping for surgery, I called him in the moment Ritsuko learned that one of his lungs was compromised."

"Thank god," Misato said wholeheartedly.

"I haven't been idle in here Misato," Amanda assured her friend. "Ritsuko, keep working on that program, until it's done we're just stalling the inevitable."

The doctor looked at the slightly charred terminal. "We'll need to hook up a new interface, I think the Angel fried the circuits on this one."

"Good thing you had Maya bring spares."

* * *

"What the hell is going on!?"

The redhead's immediate response after entering the observation room was loud and not entirely unexpected seeing as the Third Child was currently being cut open.

"The Angel's managed to compromise his other lung," Amanda said. "We don't know how long we have before it manages to cut it off entirely, so we're putting him on a cardiopulmonary bypass pump."

"That baka," Asuka muttered.

"He's fighting," Amanda said to the girl. "Don't doubt that for a moment."

Asuka's face scrunched up into a frown. "I don't. It's just, why did this happen? How did this happen?"

That was a very good question, one that Amanda was trying to figure out even now. It was tricky, trying to pick out the single chord of the Angel's resonance from the rest of the score, and then following those notes back along the staff. They knew approximately when the infection hit since that was when Soren had hit the metaphorical panic button throughout their collective. The tricky part was the Angel had obviously lain dormant in the boy for some time before striking and untangling which notes belonged to Shinji and which to the Angel was not trivial. Even now Ireul continued to resonate with the boy, not least because it was continuously adapting to try to overcome the hyper-charged immune reaction Soren was driving. If her husband had not intervened, Shinji would already by dead.

The woman continued looking through the window even with her attention elsewhere. The natural point of infection was probably during the day long synchronization test for the dummy plugs. Originally Ireul should have been detected as some sort of corrosion before hijacking Rei's simulation body and trying to attack the observation deck. Of course that had ultimately not happened, but it was still their best bet. And so she followed the trail back, making sure that she could distinguish between the Angel's piece and Shinji's until the day of the fateful test. It had rode along inside the boy's body throughout the day, dormant. In fact, it was there even before the boy got into the entry plug. Amanda frowned. That made no sense, that suggested the boy had not been infected via the simulation body. So where? And when. She continued the search, staring impassively as the tubes were connected to Shinji's heart, which was promptly stopped once the pump began running.

"There," the doctor said. "We can keep him going like this for a few hours, but after that we risk significant complications."

"Thank you doctor," Misato said with a bow. "If all goes well, we can have you taking him off the pump in no time at all."

The doctor nodded and took his leave.

Amanda was jumping back further and further now, days turning into weeks into months. Throughout all that time the Angel had ridden inside Shinji's body and all of them remained completely oblivious to it. That kind of oversight was utterly unacceptable. How could they have been so completely blindsided? A scowl appeared on the woman's face as she contemplated their mistake. But none of this made any sense, there were no other opportunities for the boy to have gotten infected, no other points where he came directly in contact with an Angel-the thought chopped off abruptly.

"Oh hell," Amanda muttered.

Asuka looked over at the woman. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Amanda said quickly. "Just thinking about how messed up this situation is."

The girl snorted. "Messed up doesn't even begin to describe it. If the Angels can come at us like this, what's to stop them from infecting something else? Like the MAGI? Or an EVA? Those are biological too, right?"

Amanda tried hard not to grimace at the girl's speculations. Whatever the irony in them she had more important matters to focus on, like verifying her hypothesis. She jumped back approximately two months ago, after Asuka's arrival and after the second joint victory she and Shinji shared. To another battle that tasted bitterly of defeat even with the destruction of the Angel. To a point in time when Shinji was in contact with not just an Angel, but with its core. And at that point, Asuka saw just the slightest tremor of a note before it began resonating with the boy. A note that sounded as the form that used to be Mayumi Yamagishi crumbled in the arms of the boy she loved and loved her back.

"Fuck."

* * *

Kasahara had refused to let Mana go since arriving back at base. That was probably a good thing seeing how shaken the girl was after her close brush with death. True the yakuza thugs had tried to kidnap her before, but they had not gone out of their way to outright kill the girl. Hirokawa had shown no such qualms and had it not been the delaying action she and the other trainees put up, all of them might have been dead before Soren and Kayabuki could have reached them. As it was Musashi came out with a few bruises, Keita had ended up opening a few wounds, and Shinn had nearly blacked out from the pain from his ribs when he threw the flower vase at Hirokawa. Even if Mana had come out physically relatively unscathed, the way the girl clung to the corporal was a good indication of the mental beating she had taken.

Hirokawa himself was still alive, the doctors and nurses succeeding in stemming the bleeding before it was too late. He was now tied down to a bed with two guards in his room with shoot to kill orders and two more outside to make sure those orders were successfully executed. After a screwup like this no one was prepared to take any chances.

"We found Private Urashi," Kudo said. "He's still unconscious, there was a lot of, trauma, to his head. The doctors aren't sure when he'll wake."

Kayabuki nodded. Scarcely an hour had passed since the attack and unfortunately they were running out of time.

"Major," Kayabuki said. "I leave the care of the children in your hands. All of the children."

Kudo looked at Kayabuki's back and blinked. "Ma'am?"

The colonel said nothing else and headed towards the waiting cars. The Section-2 agents waiting all saluted her, a courtesy they did not technically need to extend but one that they were more than willing to at this point. Soren was already seated in the back, much of his attention fixed on keeping Ireul at bay to give Ritsuko the full three hours eight minutes left of his revised deadline. With any luck he might even be able to extend that time.

Kayabuki climbed in next to Soren and settled down.

"Not going to say anything else to them?" the German man asked.

"I hate long goodbyes," Kayabuki said. "And if I do say anything else Kudo might suspect something. He's pretty sharp you know."

"He's also smitten with you."

Kayabuki snorted. "A bad idea, fraternization in the ranks. Can compromise one's judgment."

"I seem to recall lack of fraternization is the root of our primary problem."

The colonel chuckled. "Maybe. Alright, for that case, yes, it is, but this and that are different. And do you really have time to be teasing me like this?"

"I am doing no such thing," Soren said in a completely flat voice.

Kayabuki glanced over to see the man's eyes closed. She chuckled and gave his hair a tustle.

* * *

"Ritsuko, status," Amanda asked.

"We're making progress," the doctor said. "It's going to take at least another three hours or so though, the Angel's AT-field is blocking me from directly tapping into it."

Three hours, well outside their margin of error, Amanda thought with a grimace. "If you could get past the AT-field, how much would it speed things up?"

"Quite a bit," the doctor said. "I need to get a more refined reading of the Angel's neural oscillations to, tune in, for lack of a better word, into its network. Only then can I attempt to actually interact with it."

"Should we try moving Shinji-kun to the EVA cages then?" Misato asked.

"No," Amanda and Ritsuko both said immediately.

"Not with him hooked up to the pump like that," Amanda clarified. "That thing needs to be monitored constantly to make sure no clogging occurs and moving him about is too risky."

"And the time it'd take to set up and tear down all this would be too long," Ritsuko added. "We'd add at least another hour, which kind of defeats the purpose of trying to neutralize the AT-field in the first place."

"Then maybe we should have set him up in the cages in the first place," Misato muttered.

"Which would have delayed him getting any treatment at all," Amanda said. "Remember, all the medical equipment is in here and would have needed to be moved there, nevermind the containment measures."

"Yeah," Misato said with a sigh. "I just, wish we could do something more."

Amanda's mind was already racing. For her it was not a mere wish, it was a necessity if they did not want to resort to Terminus and risk exposing their hand. There was, in fact, something they could do. The question was would Rei do it. As the girl in question walked in Amanda made sure the mic pickup was shut off and turned to her. For now it would be a really bad idea to let Misato find out about the girl's true nature.

"Rei," Amanda said.

The girl looked over at Amanda.

"Are you willing to use your AT-field to neutralize Ireul's?"

The girl's face twitched but her composure otherwise remained intact. "That is classified."

"Ritsuko needs to directly tap into the Angel to upload the program to save Shinji," Amanda said. "If she can't get around the AT-field, we might very well lose Shinji."

This time there was a very visible tremor on the girl's face. She looked through the window and a hand clenched into a fist.

"That, is classified," she repeated, more softly this time.

Amanda regarded the girl thoughtfully. It was apparent Shinji was very important to her, but the elder Ikari's hold on her was still stronger. She could not risk forcing the girl to choose, just yet.

"And if the commander temporarily lifted the classification?" Amanda instead asked.

Rei looked back over at the woman, an almost hopeful, yearning light in her eyes. That was all Amanda needed to see. She pulled out her cellphone.

"Soren? Sorry for interrupting you, but I need you to run a little errand for me. Don't worry about your other, job, we'll try to pick up some of the slack. Alright, thanks dear."

* * *

Gendo regarded the man standing in his office warily. It had not taken him long to learn Soren Reimer's true purpose in Tokyo-3 and he was less than pleased that one of SEELE's top hounds had managed to maintain the deception running for so long. At this point Ikari was more than prepared to admit that Soren was probably the more dangerous one between him and his wife. Amanda may be an expert at bureaucratic maneuvers but Soren would be the one SEELE ordered to pull the trigger when the time came. All that meant however was Gendo would be placing a higher priority on eliminating the good Inspector-General when the chips fell.

"Colonel Reimer," Gendo said.

"Commander Ikari," Soren replied. He placed a disk on the other man's desk. "Telemetry from the encounters with Alpha-Orange."

Fuyutsuki stiffened behind the elder Ikari while Gendo continued staring at Soren seemingly impassively. They were still not clear on exactly how the German had purged the MAGI of all the data about Alpha-Orange but it could not have been easy seeing how the supercomputer was structured. That being the case, why then was he offering it back?

"What do you want?" Gendo asked, getting straight to the point.

"Ayanami will not release her AT-field without direct authorization from you," Soren stated.

Gendo's head tilted downward ever so slightly. "You wish her to neutralize Ireul's AT-field."

"If she does not do so, Shinji Ikari will be dead within the next two hours."

Once again it was Fuyutsuki that reacted visibly, or more accurately audibly, as he suppressed a cough.

"How do you know this," Ikari asked flatly.

"We have a firmer understanding of Ireul than Dr. Akagi," Soren stated without bothering to elaborate who the 'we' were in this case. "She needs at least another three hours to render the Angel harmless. The only way to decrease that time is to neutralize the AT-field."

Gendo stared at Soren for a few moments before glancing down at the CD.

"It is encrypted?"

"For now."

The commander snorted. "You are in contact with Rei now."

Soren set his smartphone down and slid it to Gendo. The man picked it up and noted the already connected call.

"It's me," he said simply.

There was a shuffling sound as the phone was handed off.

"Yes," a soft voice said.

"Authorization granted," Gendo stated simply.

"Acknowledged."

Gendo set the phone back down and slid it back to Soren. The German man took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down a long string of letters and numbers. He then picked up his phone and took his leave without another word. Once the door closed behind him Fuyutsuki sighed.

"Was that wise, Ikari?"

"SEELE seems to have invested considerable effort into turning Shinji into an asset," Gendo said as he picked up the paper and the CD. "I also have a use for the boy alive and whole. This, this is merely a bonus."

It was much, much more than a bonus to Ikari, Fuyutsuki knew. But he held his peace.

Soren headed down towards the lockers though did not go in quite yet, stopping Rei as well when the girl showed up and keeping the the two of them and Kayabuki out of sight for the time being. Giving Ikari the data on Alpha-Orange was a calculated risk, one that SEELE would likely be highly displeased about if they found out. But one thing the collective knew they could count on was Ikari to protect his own interests well and keeping SEELE in the dark was second nature to the man. Hopefully all this smoke and mirrors would hold out for just a few more months. Then they could be done with SEELE and Ikari both. Soren was very much looking forward to the latter.

* * *

"Misato, I need to speak with you," Amanda said.

"What is it?"

"In here."

Misato looked over at the window and raised an eyebrow. Amanda however remained silent, simply jerking her head back to emphasize the request.

"This better be good," Misato growled.

Before heading for decontamination she gave the boy's uninfected hand a squeeze. Even if she was in a hazmat suit, she could do that much at least. She rushed through changing and was out of the locker area as quickly as humanly possible. In her rush she did not notice the three figures that entered once her back was to them. When Misato entered the observation room she came to an abrupt halt. The blast screens had been lowered and the video feed cut.

"What the hell?"

"Close the door," Amanda said.

Misato narrowed her eyes but did as Amanda instructed. "What's going on?"

"I think it's a given at this point that SEELE has assets beyond what NERV possesses," Amanda said. "It should also be obvious that NERV has assets that you don't know about. We're about to try to use one to save Shinji."

"Ah, Misato said as she clasped her hands together. "And this is something I'm not supposed to know about, so you wanted me out of the room."

"More or less."

Misato nodded. "So, is it something that you'll eventually tell me about?"

"Yes," Amanda said, "but right now I can't risk telling you about it without compromising other assets and plans."

"I see," Misato said. "Are you at least going to answer some basic questions?"

"Ask and we'll see."

"How dangerous is it?"

"There's some danger, but we think we have a firm handle on it."

"And what will it do exactly?"

"I'm afraid that I can't tell you," Amanda said. "If you knew, you might be able to take a very good guess at what it is."

Misato glowered. "Amanda, you do realize that Shinji-kun is my son now."

"And Asuka's been like a daughter to me," the woman replied. "And if their positions were switched, I'd trust this asset enough to try it on her."

That, was a pretty convincing point, Misato had to admit. And seeing as Amanda had literally watched Asuka grow up, the other woman's maternal instincts for the girl were almost certainly stronger, however much Misato had grown to care for Shinji over the past few months.

"Alright, so how long is this going to take?"

"About an hour," Amanda said. "We're also going to need to keep Asuka on standby to keep her from barging in."

"Fair enough," Misato said. "Wait, what about Rei? Where's she right now?"

"On an errand," Amanda half-lied. "I came up with something to keep her preoccupied, which will also give us an excuse to keep Asuka in or near her EVA."

"You really do think ahead."

"Part of the job."

* * *

The number of people in the room was down to an absolute minimum of Soren, Kayabuki, Rei, Ritsuko, and Maya. Ritsuko Soren knew would keep her mouth shut and Maya would follow an order to do likewise if both he and the doctor reinforced it. Placing this burden on the mousey woman was perhaps unfair but they needed her help with this. Even now she was injecting Shinji's arm with additional electrodes, looking somewhat surprised as no AT-field formed to block the tips.

"Interface inserted," Maya said. "Sempai, are the connections clear?"

"Crystal," Ritsuko said, focusing most of her attention on the readings.

"Five minutes doctor," Soren stated. "Get the readings that you need and then we need to extract the probes."

Ritsuko did not bother asking how Soren came up with that deadline, instead working to make sure she could meet it. Without a direct connection to the MAGI she needed to rely on more conventional systems to do the signal processing and pattern recognition that the supercomputer could have finished in a matter of moments. Even with the several server nodes hauled into the quarantine room she was severely handicapped. Still, with a much cleaner signal the amount of filtering necessary decreased exponentially and the algorithms she had running quickly locked onto a pattern.

"Got it," Ritsuko said. "You can unplug him now."

Maya withdrew the probes and with a nod from Soren Rei stopped degrading the Angel's AT-field. The Angel offered no reaction to the intrusion but Soren remained wary. The Angels were nothing if not unpredictable.

Minutes ticked by until Ritsuko nodded. "I've got the frequencies the Angel is using throughout its network."

"Begin when ready doctor," Soren said. "Time is against us."

"Maya, plug us back in on Shinji's uninfected side."

"Yes doctor."

"Here, let me help," Kayabuki said.

"Oh, umm, thank you colonel," Maya said in surprise.

As the lieutenant injected the electrodes once more, Kayabuki stood behind her holding onto all of the additional equipment. Soren remained at another terminal, monitoring the boy's vitals as well as keeping an eye on the pump. Officially he had no training whatsoever on what to do if the thing did start clogging. Unofficially he was backed up by the collective knowledge of several thousand people and within that combined chorus was the information he needed.

"Uploading program now," Ritsuko said.

Several minutes passed with no visible changes. Then slowly, ever so slowly, the purple splotches that covered much of the boy began receding and the skin turned once more into a natural shade of pink. Maya let out an audible sigh of relief while Kayabuki smiled. Ritsuko slumped back into her chair, the tension draining from her form. Rei, Rei simply stared intently at the sleeping boy, but if one looked closely upon her face it was clear that she too was relieved. As for Soren, the German man remained seemingly impassive. However inside he felt the strain lessen until disappearing completely as Ireul lost its sense of self. And yet, he felt no struggle on the part of the Angel, no last desperate gasp to cling to life. It almost felt, content, as if it wanted to become one with the Third Child. Soren frowned.

There, was a coldness to the Angel before, a coldness that was fading along with the creature. A coldness born out of solitude. But now the Angel was becoming part of another, an act it seemed almost, grateful for. Even if it ceased to exist as an individual, ceased to be what it once was, it was no longer alone, and that to the Angel seemed to be worth the price of its distinct existence. Soren withdrew from his examination of the Angel as it ceased being. He had not expected such a reaction. Perhaps all these theatrics with Ritsuko had not been necessary to save Shinji's life. Perhaps Terminus itself would have ultimately been unnecessary.

* * *

Shinji woke feeling surprisingly refreshed, a considerable improvement from when he woke up the morning and felt his body seemingly burning. Then the ceiling above him registered.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed baka."

Glancing over Shinji saw a certain German redhead glaring at him from behind a window. It was then that he realized this room was not the regular hospital ward he normally occupied. He rose slightly, feeling no aches or strains as he did.

"Asuka," he said. "What, happened?"

The girl's mouth opened wide as if in preparation to yell at him but no sound came out. She closed her mouth and took a deep breath.

"You were infected by an Angel," her voice carried over the intercom. "It was trying to take over your body."

"I, what?"

"You nearly died you idiot!" Asuka snapped. "If Dr. Akagi hadn't managed to come up with a way to trick the Angel, you would be dead!"

Shinji looked at the girl as the words sank in. True every time they got into the EVA to fight Angels they were risking their lives, but in those instances they themselves fought back to stave off their own mortality. But this time he had apparently been bedridden and at the mercy of an Angel.

"Sorry," Shinji muttered.

"What was that?"

"Sorry," the boy said more loudly.

"What are you apologizing for?" Asuka said, irritation growing in her voice.

"For making you worry," Shinji said. "And, thanks Asuka, for being here for me."

The girl stared at him for several moments before sniffing. "Rei was here too. We've been taking shifts. You better thank her too!"

Shinji smiled. "I will."

* * *

"That was too goddamn close," Misato sighed in exhaustion.

"Could have been a lot closer," Amanda said. "Here."

Misato accepted the mug of coffee gratefully. Amanda walked over to Maya and Ritsuko and handed each woman mugs of their own.

"Thanks," Ritsuko said before taking a sip. "Mmm, been a while since I've had a cup this good."

"Drop by my office more," Amanda said. "You'll probably find Misato camping there mooching off my coffee supply more often than not."

"Maybe," Ritsuko said with obvious wariness.

Amanda placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You did good here, you saved Shinji's life and that is something you should be proud of."

Ritsuko regarded Amanda for a few moments before finally deciding to accept the compliment at face value and nodded.

"So what now?" Misato asked.

"We keep him under observation for a few days to make sure Ritsuko's solution keeps," Amanda said. "Then we figure out if his piloting ability has been compromised or not."

Misato sighed. "I guess that is important. Damn."

"So far the Angel's cells seem to have completely integrated into Shinji's body," Ritsuko said. "At this point our instruments can't even distinguish between them. We'll have to be careful though, the last thing we need is for an EVA to get infected."

"Now that would royally suck," Misato agreed. "Alright, slow and steady it is."

Amanda tried hard not to grimace at the remarks. Bardiel was not here yet however and with all the extra EVAs they expected to have on site they just might be able to neutralize it without resorting to the dummy plug or crippling or outright killing the pilot.

"Hmm, you look a bit down, Ibuki," Misato said. "You okay?"

"Oh! Yes! Of course!" Maya said hurriedly. "I'm just, a little tired, that's all."

"Ah, well not surprisingly," Misato said. "You did spend like six hours in a hazmat suit."

Maya nodded nervously, catching the looks from Amanda and Ritsuko both. There was no helping the fact that she needed to be present when Rei neutralized Ireul's AT-field and while the younger woman probably did not know exactly what was going on, she must have suspected something. Otherwise why would Rei have been present. For that matter even assuming she could come up with a rationale for Soren's presence she was likely wondering why Kayabuki had been there as well.

The door to Amanda's office slid open and two of the people in question entered. Soren stopped before Maya and bowed slightly.

"Dr. Ibuki. Thank you again for your aid in saving Herr Ikari."

Maya flushed slightly and bowed back, her own much lower. "It was no problem, Colonel Reimer. I'm, just glad everything worked out."

Soren offered the woman the slightest of smiles but it seemed to reassure her nonetheless. He then turned to Ritsuko and extended a hand.

"Ritsuko."

The doctor took it cautiously.

"A job well done," Soren said.

"Thank you," the doctor said, still a bit uncertain if Soren was trying to lead this somewhere.

The man was not and turned toward his wife, moving onto other matters. "There's been a development with the investigation."

Amanda narrowed her eyes, playing the part. "What development?"

Soren glanced at Kayabuki and the colonel stepped forward.

"The JSSDF colonel that we took into custody, Hirokawa, tried to kill Mana around noon today."

Maya gasped while Ritsuko frowned. Misato's face darkened whereas Amanda's took on a look of fury.

"Is he still alive?" she asked.

"Yes," the colonel replied. "I have him under heavy guard now. How do you want to proceed?"

"Put him in front of a military tribunal," Amanda ordered. "We'll get an SDF officer, someone from the JSSDF, and one of your officers to sit on it. Let's see if the bastards have the guts to vote against convicting him."

"That'd be particularly gutsy of them seeing as Hirokawa was stupid enough to carry out his attack on camera," Kayabuki said. "But what about the other two members of the panel? You need a minimum of five for a general court-martial."

Amanda pretended to think it over. "The attack took place in the hospital, which is part of the UN base, which is part of Tokyo-3. We'll have Lieutenant Hyuga sit in as the fourth member."

"What?" Misato said in surprise.

"He's a commissioned officer and part of the operations section," Amanda said. "He's also extremely dutiful. Unless you want to take on jury duty?"

"No, that's fine," Misato said just as quickly.

"For the fifth, huh, now that could be tricky."

"Colonel Metz is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo-3 next week along with Unit 05," Soren suddenly said.

"Right, Metz. That could work. She's Bundeswehr but on loan out to the UN and she wasn't here for this." Amanda glanced at Kayabuki. "Make sure whoever you pick can also be considered impartial, or at least has a very straight record."

"Kudo," Kayabuki said immediately.

"Ah, the major that's been doing all your paperwork," Amanda said, causing Kayabuki to flush slightly.

"The JSSDF's probably still going to accuse you of packing the jury against their man," Misato said.

"Anything that is not a formal written protest I intend to ignore," Amanda said.

That, was very evil of her friend, Misato knew. She could not help but chuckle.

"At the same time I suggest we move the trainees to a safer location," Soren said. "Hirokawa may have been an anomaly, but we cannot rule out further attempts if they remain on Japanese soil."

"What do you propose?" Amanda asked as if she did not already know.

"Temporary relocation to Germany," Soren said. "The German government can be convinced to look after them and any family that chooses to join them for the short and even medium term."

"You sure the kids would be up to it?" Kayabuki asked. "They might insist on staying seeing as almost all of them seem to have made friends in their schools."

Amanda sighed. "That, is a problem."

"At minimum we need to get Fraulein Kirishima out of the country," Soren stated. "The JSSDF seems to think that she is the linchpin in the UN's case against them."

"That may be more feasible," Amanda said. "Colonel, could you broach the subject with her?"

Kayabuki grimaced but nodded. "I'm pretty sure Musashi at least is going to insist going with her."

"That should be fine," Soren said. "Any who wish to leave are welcome to, and any who wish to stay, besides Fraulein Kirishima, should be able to do so with minimal danger."

"That all?" Kayabuki asked. "I need to get back to base, got some shook up kids to look after."

Soren nodded. "I can give you a lift back."

"Thanks."

"And we can see about requisitioning another Glock18 from your armory to replace the one you've seized as evidence."

"I'm telling you, I'm not even sure if we have one of those," Kayabuki said as she and Soren walked out. "Why can't you just grab a pistol from NERV's armory?"

"I am officially UN, not NERV," an increasingly muffled voice said. "And the Glock17 is not fully automatic."

"You're the only one I know crazy enough to shoot a pistol in full auto."

Misato chuckled at the parting remarks and finished downing her coffee. "Speaking of kids, I should go check on Shinji-kun."

She set the mug aside and headed to the door, stopping in front of Ritsuko.

"Hey Rits-chan?"

"Yes?"

Misato smiled warmly. "Thanks. Again. For keeping my boy safe."

Ritsuko seemed unsure how to respond but eventually settled for a smile and a nod. Off to the side Amanda watched the entire exchange intently. One step at a time.

* * *

It had been a tumultuous week for Mana to say the least with both ups and downs. First the attempted kidnapping, then a very nice dinner, Shinn's little episode, an actual attempt on her life in the hospital, and all capped off with the fact that the UN needed to get her out of the country at least temporarily for her own safety. If there was an upside to this, it was that Musashi and even Keita had insisted on accompanying her. She felt a bit guilty about dragging her friends along but was grateful and relieved enough not to actually say anything besides a thanks. As it was she would soon be leaving Tokyo-3 and there were a few people she wanted to thank and say goodbye too. The only problem being one of them was absent.

"Umm, Shikinami-san, where is Shinji-kun?" Mana asked.

"Baka got hurt in the last Angel attack," Asuka said, telling the truth but revealing nothing at the same time. "They're keeping him under observation while he mends."

"Oh," Mana said, her rising concern quickly turning into relief at hearing the boy was recovering. "So there was an Angel attack that day? We had to go to the shelters but were let out not long after."

"Yeah," Asuka said. "Don't worry, he'll be out in a few days."

A few days. Mana sighed. "I see."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"Umm, well, I'll actually be leaving the country in, two days," Mana said, smiling weakly.

Asuka now turned to look the girl straight on. "Where to?"

"Germany."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Amanda's doing I take it?"

The other girl nodded.

"Something happened with the investigation?" Asuka asked more solemnly.

Another nodded. "It's, actually going well, but, the UN wants me to evacuate for my, safety."

The girl's eyes narrowed. "You specifically?"

Another nod, this one more slight. Asuka stared at the girl for a few moments.

"I'll let Shinji know," Asuka finally said. "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."

A smile appeared on Mana's face and the girl bowed. "Thank you very much, Shikinami-san."

"It's Asuka," the redhead replied. "No need to be so formal all the time."

Mana rose and stuck a tongue out at the girl. "If you say so, Asuka-_san_."

* * *

Kaji had lost count of how many meetings he had been forced to sit through in Tokyo-2. Hopefully this would be the last one seeing as the prime minister, General Suzaku, General Hiraga, and the ministers of defense, justice, and interior were all present. With so many of Japan's heavy hitters in one office they were either preparing to spin Japan caving in as an indication of the country's reasonableness and dedication to the rule of law or they were going to try to bully him into backing off with more nonsense about sovereign rights. Considering how disgruntled Suzaku was, Kaji was starting to doubt it was the later.

"Inspector Kaji," the prime minister said. "We have, gone over the very disturbing reports about what occurred at the UN base yesterday. The Japanese government unequivocally condemns the rogue actions of Colonel Hirokawa. We assure you that we had no idea the colonel intended to carry out such heinous acts."

Kaji acknowledged the opening statement with a nod. No need to prod them about Hirokawa's apparent continued possession of his rank. Yet.

"As the colonel is a member of the JSSDF, we request that he be remanded into Japanese custody so that we may put him on trial for his conduct," the prime minister continued.

Ah, so that was what they wanted. Knowing the Japanese government they would probably try to whitewash it, allow Hirokawa to resign in disgrace or perhaps even commit suicide instead of publicly castigating him. In fact if he did commit suicide the hardline elements would likely regard the man as a martyr and ignore his sins.

"I'm afraid that is impossible," Kaji said. "Hirokawa committed an act in UN jurisdiction, assaulting not only a member of the UN military but also attepting to murder witnesses under UN protection. Jurisdiction therefore falls rightly to us. Auditor-General Sommer however recognizes that the Japanese government has an, interest, in seeing Hirokawa get a fair trail, and so extends an invitation to the Japanese government to appoint two of the five members of the tribunal panel, with the stipulation that one be from the SDF and the other from the SSDF."

Suzaku glowered at Kaji at hearing this.

"Please note that this offer is only good if both stipulations are met," Kaji added.

"I can provide a competent and impartial candidate for the panel," Hiraga said before Suzaku could get a word in. "General Suzaku?"

Suzaku shot his comrade a glare at having undercut him so before shifting his wrath back to Kaji. "This tribunal is a farce, the UN still controls three of the five seats and can force the decision whichever way it wants."

Kaji waited a few moments for any of the others to say something, either to reprimand or support the general. Interestingly no one did.

"I have the auditor's choices for the other three panel members," Kaji said. "They are Major Kudo, Colonel Kayabuki's second and therefore also a former member of the JSSDF, Lieutenant Hyuga of NERV, who therefore has no connections to either the regiment or the JSSDF, and a Colonel Madison Metz of the Bundeswehr, who will be arriving next week accompanying EVA Unit 05 from NERV-Berlin. If you have any reservations about their impartiality, then by all means, file a formal complaint and it will be addressed. If you do not file a complaint however, that will also be noted in the formal notes of the proceedings."

Suzaku looked like he wanted to rip Kaji's head off or respond that yes he would be filing a formal complaint. But that would have been an empty threat and both men knew it. The general had tried to bluff Kaji into backing down over the matter of who tried Hirokawa and been called on it. With this defeat the rest of the cabinet would not be offering any further support to Suzaku on the matter.

"I will nominate an appropriate JSSDF officer for the panel," the general finally spat out.

Kaji nodded. "Thank you. Now, onto other matters. In light of the, threat to Trainee Kirishima, the UN has determined that it would be best to remove her from Japan for the time being."

This time looks of surprise came back at him.

"I have already collected the dispositions of her and the other trainees and combined with the medical examination and seized documentation, it is my conclusion that the Trident program does indeed violate the international prohibition on child soldiers. My final report to the UN Inspectorate, of which Auditor-General Sommer has a near finalized draft of, will include this conclusion. I am here today to discuss with the Japanese government what remedial steps your government intends to take. Depending on how, satisfactory, those steps are, I may see fit to, adjust the degree of complicity that my conclusion implies."

Here it was, the true meat of today's meeting, the bone being thrown to the Japanese government to make concessions in exchange for not being thoroughly eviscerated in the court of world public opinion. Kaji had a list, one drafted between himself and Amanda, about what things they wanted from the Japanese government and what things they were willing to give up. Surprisingly his friend had not seemed especially interested in bringing down Suzaku himself. Then again with how many of his subordinates and allies in the defense ministry and private industry that were going to take a fall for this, the general would be greatly reduced as a threat. It would be most interesting to see how the bureaucracy realigned itself. Who knew, maybe this might even effect some genuine change for the better in the Japanese government. One could always hope after all.

* * *

Misato's cell rang, waking the woman up as she napped in the observation room next to where Shinji was still being kept in quarantine. Glancing at it, she saw a familiar and decreasingly irritating name.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Katsuragi," Kaji greeted. "Just wanted to check in. How're things with Shinji-kun?"

"He seems fine," Misato said, peering through to window to see the boy reading something on a laptop they had given him to occupy his time. "I'd say he was bored, but he seems to have picked up a new hobby involving computers."

"Really? Well, that's good to hear. Sorry I wasn't able to be there when, well, everything went down."

"You were doing your job," Misato said, "and it's a pretty damn important one. So, the Japanese government cave yet?"

"Almost," Kaji said with a chuckle. "We've agreed on the fine and compensation for the trainees and their families. The defense minister and Suzaku are still trying to haggle about who gets officially charged versus being allowed to quietly resign."

"So long as not too many of them get let off the hook," Misato said.

"I'm making them pick between the mid-tier and the rank and file," Kaji said. "They can either shoot morale in the knees by sacrificing the people at the bottom that do all the work or lose a bunch of cronies that help support their bureaucratic positions."

"That's evil," Misato said. "I love it."

"Yeah, I thought you might. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you and Shinji-kun were alright. Don't stay up too late Katsuragi, you need your beauty sleep after all."

Misato sniffed. "And just what are you insinuating?"

"Nothing at all," Kaji said with a laugh. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Bye," Misato said, closing her cell.

It was strange, when she first saw Kaji on _Over the Rainbow_ she had desperately wanted to avoid him. Now, his presence was almost welcoming. Maybe she was getting over her own daddy issues. Misato snorted and settled back into the chair. It was probably a bit too early to claim that. Still, she felt a slight sense of contentment right now. Her adopted son was safe and seemed well on the road to recovery and her old ex was becoming less and less of an ex. Life could be a lot worse.

* * *

Mana had made a concentrated effort to not get her hopes up too much and so when Shinji was not amongst the group of students that came to see her, Musashi, and Keita off, she was able to hide her disappointment fairly well. Nevertheless when Asuka came forth and presented her a cellphone the girl's eyes lit up. She smiled in thanks and took it.

"Hello?"

"Mana-san?" Shinji's voice sounded. "I'm sorry I can't be there, they're still keeping me down here in the medical ward."

"That's alright, I don't want you getting hurt just on my account," Mana said. "Umm, I just wanted to say thank you, Shinji-kun, for being a friend. And for being there for all of us."

"You're welcome," Shinji responded, "though I really didn't do much."

Mana shook her head even though she knew the boy could not see her. "You helped us just by being there, for letting us enjoy these regular school days. That's enough."

"Ah. I'm, happy that we could become friends," Shinji said. "I'll definitely stay in touch after you get to Germany."

"That'd be great. And, I'm glad to have met you, Shinji-kun."

Unnoticed by Mana Asuka, Misato, and Amanda winced. The boy on the other end was also silent for a bit but his answer was clear and crisp.

"Me too, Mana-san."

With a smile Mana handed the phone back to Asuka and bowed. "Thank you, Asuka-san."

"Don't mention it," the girl said, trying to keep her composure. It was not Mana's fault her choice of wording was, problematic after all, seeing as she did not know about a certain other girl that uttered those same ones to Shinji.

"Fraulein Kirishima, are you ready?" Soren asked as he walked over.

"Yes, Reimer-san."

Asuka looked at her instructor in surprise. "You're going with her Maestro?"

"I was scheduled to make a business trip to Berlin," Soren reminded the girl. "That is why we do not have lessons the upcoming week or two. As the timing works out, Amanda asked that I escort Fraulein Kirishima and her friends."

"Ah," the girl nodded. "Ja, auf wiedersehen, Maestro."

"Und du auch, Fraulein."

In the end Mana was not quite ready to depart as she was drawn into a hug by Kasahara and then Kayabuki. Only then did she ascend the stairs into the plane. As Soren turned to follow however Kayabuki suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait."

The German turned about.

"Here," the colonel said, slapping a pistol and holster into his hand. "Managed to get ahold of a Glock18."

The German nodded. "Thank you colonel."

"Oh, and one more thing."

Kayabuki grabbed Soren by his tie and planted a big, deep kiss on the mouth. Tongue was almost certainly involved. Jaws dropped. Kensuke's camera continued rolling. When she finally released him the German man somehow still maintained his stern composure. He did at least clear his throat as he straightened his tie however. Without another word Soren retreated up the stairs, shepherding in the gawking Mana in the process. Kayabuki for her part had a huge smile plastered on her face as she walked back over to the crowd. More than one person glanced very nervously over at a certain German brunette. For some reason she had a huge smile on her own face.

"Colonel."

"Yes colonel?" Kayabuki replied with Amanda's rank.

A hand shot out and grabbed hold of Kayabuki by her collar.

"I seem to recall a significant amount of paperwork not being completed since your appointment as regimental CO," Amanda said as she literally hauled the other woman along with her to a waiting car, "and what paperwork has been submitted appears to have been filled out by Major Kudo even though such work is not supposed to be delegated out. We will be returning to my office in the Geofront and we will remain there until such time as you complete all of the backed up paperwork."

Kayabuki's own smile disappeared. "Hey wait, what!? You're joking, right!? Colonel!? Auditor!? Help! Someone help! She's gone crazy! Kudo!"

The major quickly hurried after the two women but any relief Kayabuki felt was quickly dashed.

"I have a list of all the records the colonel has yet to fill out," the major said. "Shall I bring it with us?"

"Ah yes, that would be most helpful major, thank you."

"What! You traitor! How can you do this to me! I'm your commanding officer! You should be on my side!"

"But I am ma'am," Kudo said. "This way there is no risk of Colonel Sommer docking your pay over the late paperwork."

"Oh, that's a thought."

"Stop giving her ideas!"

Off to the side more than one person had burst out laughing at the scene. Kayabuki continued calling for help and protesting her treatment up until Amanda tossed her into a Section-2 SUV and shut the door after climbing in. As they drove off Misato clapped Asuka and Rei on their shoulders.

"Well, let's get back," Misato said. "Need to make sure the apartment is spotless before Shinji-kun gets discharged."

Asuka scowled at the other woman. "Learn to pick up after yourself, Misato!"

The woman chuckled. "Seeing how often you're over, at least half of it is yours, Asuka."

End of Chapter 26

I don't think I did a very good job capturing the tension regarding Ireul's infection, but that one was always going to be somewhat hard to do. Anyway, Mana's been put on a plane, though this will not be the last we see of her. Especially considering Soren is riding along and he still has some work to do that we'll get to see.

I didn't have time to double check the German I used with the native speaker I usually consult, but basically the exchange is supposed to be "See you soon" and "You as well." If there is a mistake there, I'll fix it in my master draft and probably also fix it in the uploaded version.

The ambiguity regarding the sidesteppers and any confusion or mystery that derives from that ambiguity is intentional. The information that I have kept back is intentionally kept back to ensure that the entire picture is obscured. Whether one enjoys this kind of ambiguity and the need to hunt for clues to construct your own theories and interpretations is a matter of personal taste. Having said, that, seeing how ludicrously easily most of the reviewers have guessed at the, primary identities, of the two sidesteppers we see the most of, I don't really see what the cause for mass confusion is. You, my readers, have a starting point from which to infer motives and from there I've scattered hints, clues, and countless other tidbits to help all of you along. The level of complexity reflects the level of complexity that I like in the books that I personally read, and since I would obviously only write something I myself find worth reading, that's not going to change.

Obviously there are still unanswered questions but those questions remained unanswered to ensure that the unfolding story does not become predictable to the point of boring. That is after all one of the bigger issues with the whole 'Peggy-Sue' genre of EVA fics, not that my own fic falls neatly into that category, as if the events are just a repeat of what happens in the series proper, we the fandom have gone over those events so many times and collectively come up with so many 'solutions' to each one that it's pretty much all rote by now. How then to make such a fic interesting? How to avoid writing yourself into a hole, which I suspect is what happened to the author of _Once More with Feeling_. Burnout is a major problem.

That aside, there are two traps that writers of fanfiction can fall into. The first is being overly reliant on the fact that everyone already 'knows' the characters you are writing about and not developing enough characterization of your own in your story. This results in a story that is, from my perspective, too shallow, as the characters react with such predictability that the reader can pretty much guess not only where the story will end up but how the story will end. This pretty much destroys all motivation to continue reading. Unless we're talking about NC-17 stories that serve entirely different, audiences. Ahem.

The other trap involves the issue of putting in so much characterization that one basically, as I said above, writes oneself into a hole. What this basically means is that in order to create the necessary depth of character, a writer creates a characterization that is solid, is believable, and ends up being a major impediment to the advancement of the overall plot. This might sound strange at first glance but one must keep in mind that every character has a role they need to play in the unfolding story. If however undertaking a role that was prepared for them goes against the characterization the writer has established, then proceeding as planned can weaken the characterization, and the overall believability of said character, or derail the plot and require reworking the storyline. This ultimately can extend to plot elements as well. If the circumstances that led up to an event get changed, can the event still realistically happen? Hence all of the handwringing the sidesteppers go through as they make modifications. And how spectacularly some things have blown up on them.

A point, I'm pretty sure this was not ambiguous, but I already established that the sidesteppers are able to hold mental conversations with one another. And when they're doing that, well, I've already shown Soren capable of shifting his form to look like an older Shinji. Being able to shift their mental image should not come as much of a surprise.

One final note, at this point I'm pretty sure I've screwed up Rei's development. Or rather, I haven't given her near enough screen time to justify some of the things that are about to happen. Her relationship with Shinji and Asuka still feel a lot more tenuous than I would like at this stage. At this point it's too late to go back to try to fix that, so I'm being forced to basically rely a bit on the 'everyone knows' bit to justify what will be happening soonish.

Anyway, drop me a line. Comments and critiques welcome. No guarantees they'd be acted on of course, I need to want to write the story after all.


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Eltern

The flight to Berlin was long and trying, not least thanks to two boys that did not know how to sit still. About four hours in Mana decided that Soren had the right idea and the best way to make the flight go faster was to sleep through as much of it as she could, so she curled up in her thankfully fully reclining seat and dozed off. When she woke up about six hours later she found the German man still asleep, an impressive feat seeing as after making sure they were settled in the man had leaned back and closed his eyes about an hour into the flight. Only when the plane began its descent did Soren wake, seemingly on cue.

"Good morning Reimer-san," Mana greeted with a smile.

"Good morning Fraulein," Soren said. "I trust you are well rested?"

"Yes," Mana said, glancing over at her friends. "Musashi and Keita, not so much it seems."

The two boys looked somewhat groggy, likely having forgotten to pay heed to the major time difference between Japan and Germany and so not turned in early enough. Mana knew that she herself would take a bit for her internal clock to switch over, but for now she was still alert and more or less awake.

"We will be landing shortly," Soren said just as the fasten seatbelt sign lit up. "Make sure you are secured."

Mana was already set and the two boys clumsily buckled up. She could already feel the plane lowering in altitude. Soon enough there was that customary thud as the plane touched down and the whine of the engines lessened until it cut out entirely. The next few minutes were spent taxiing and it was not until the plane was parked inside of its hanger that the four finally disembarked.

Waiting at the bottom of the stairs was a woman wearing a dark blue uniform with gold wings on her collar. As Mana got closer the resemblance to another certain redhead back in Tokyo-3 got uncanny what with the flowing red hair. Her two friends however were too busy gawking and failing utterly to hide the fact that they were enraptured to notice the similarity. Mana sighed. Of the boys her age that she knew only one did not turn into a drooling idiot when a beautiful woman came into sight. Said boy's lack of reaction was initially due to a lack of self-awareness but these days it was due to a far too rapid maturity that made him willing to stand up for what he believed in and those he cared for. That only made him more attractive to Mana and in another time and place she might well have truly fallen for Shinji Ikari. Now though she simply considered Shinji one of her true friends, albeit one that was easier to manage than the two idiots with her at this moment.

The woman that was the subject of their attention smiled slightly and walked over to give Soren a hug.

"Soren," she said in German after letting him go. "Welcome back to the Fatherland. You seem to have had an eventful few months in Tokyo-3."

"That it has been," Soren said, shifting the conversation over to English for the benefit of the three teens. He knew that all three could understand it even if their pronunciation was shaky, but it was still better than their nonexistent German. "These are the children that are currently in my charge, Mana Kirishima, Musashi Lee Strasberg, and Keita Asari."

The woman nodded. "A pleasure to meet you all. I am Colonel Katerose von Kreutzer of the Bundeswehr Führungsstab der Streitkräfte."

The three teens recognized that last bit without any difficulty. She was a staff officer in the German Defense Staff and so moved amongst the upper echelons of the German military's command structure. That she had come to meet them had to mean the highest levels of the German military's chain of command was taking an interest in their situation. The three were a bit unsure whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm here as a personal favor to Soren here," Katerose said in response to the looks on their faces. "He and I go way back, we actually met in boot camp, though we were in different training platoons of course."

"Katerose was a cadet in the Luftwaffe," Soren said, "so she was only expected to endure a, less intense, basic regimen before moving on for further training."

A familiar glint was in Katerose's eye as she regarded Soren. "Well all the Heer is good for is rowing the boat, so you need to spend all that extra time getting the muscles."

The German man actually cracked a smile, slight as it was, apparently getting a joke that the three kids had no context for.

"No need for the gentlewomen of the Luftwaffe to break a sweat," Soren replied.

Katerose chuckled at that. Another inside joke, Mana was pretty certain. Those two really were quite close. Off to the side of the hanger was parked a BMW, one that looked to be armored from what Mana could make out. The girl idly wondered whether everyone associated with Soren was paranoid and crazy prepared.

"So how's Asuka been?" Katerose asked as they headed towards said car.

"Quite well all things considered," Soren said and glanced back at the kids. "Katerose is Fraulein Langley's aunt by way of the Fraulein's father and her brother, Dr. Wilhelm Langley."

"Half-brother," Katerose further elucidated. "Mother remarried after Wilhelm's father passed away."

That would explain the resemblance, Mana mused, and the difference in last names. Though if the younger redhead ended up anything like her aunt when she grew up, no one was going to stand any chance of winning Shinji away from the girl. Mana sighed inwardly. She may not have liked Shinji in that way but that did not mean her pride as a woman escaped a good bruising.

"It is my understanding that Dr. Langley intends to visit his daughter sometime in the near future," Soren continued.

Katerose nodded as she opened the driver's seat. "He and Asuka are actually talking to each other now." The woman grinned at the way Soren eyed her. "No, you are not driving. This is _my_ car, Herr Reimer."

"Next time," Soren grumbled as he got into the passenger seat, "I'll just get my car out from storage."

And next time, Mana vowed, she would not be one of the passengers. The German man was a great driver, true, but he had very little consideration for the comfort of his passengers. With Katerose at the wheel however the three could relax and look out the window at the scenery. Berlin had survived the post-Impact chaos relatively impact and much of its historical architecture was still around. It was quite a contrast to the flat modernity of most Japanese cities these days and the three kids drank in the sights.

"How long will you be here for?" Katerose asked, switching back to German.

"A few days. I am then scheduled to leave for the US."

"NERV Second Branch?"

Soren nodded. "The committee wants me to be on site for the final activation test of Unit 04."

"And to clean up the mess in case something goes wrong?"

"More or less."

Katerose snorted. "Those old men, they're too fixated on themselves to take into consideration what their ambitions cost."

"A lack of vision is to our advantage," Soren said. "By the way, is Wilhelm available for dinner sometime this week?"

"He should be," Katerose said. "They've wrapped up work on Unit 05 and right now it's just handling the logistics of its transfer, which he doesn't have any role in. Is this invitation for him or the family?"

"Just him," Soren said, "and yourself."

"Ah, I see. I'll see he sets some time aside."

Soren nodded. "Thank you."

The rest of the ride was punctuated with basic pleasantries and questions from the kids as they passed some famous landmark or another. Eventually the car pulled up to a heavily guarded gate with actual hard barriers to keep out unwanted cars. A good minute or so passed as the soldier carefully scrutinized the passengers before finally letting them through.

"Where are we?" Mana asked.

"Bundesnachrichtendienst head office," Soren said.

The three trainees stared at the back of Soren's chair but the man said nothing else as they descended into an underground parking lot. The car finally came to a stop and they all got out, Musashi grabbing the wheelchair from the trunk while Mana helped Keita into it.

"Well Oberst Reimer," Katerose said with a salute, "it's good to have you back."

Soren returned it. "It is good to be back, Oberst von Kreutzer." He turned and walked toward the elevator. "This way."

Katerose got into the car and pulled out while the three kids scrambled to follow. As they got into the elevator Mana and her friends all had the same thought. What had they gotten themselves into? The elevator doors opened and the sight of soldiers in tactical armor hefting H&amp;K G3s appeared. Ceremonial these guards were not, especially seeing as the G3s fired the larger 7.62mm NATO cartridge. Soren walked down the hall with confident strides. Mana, Keita, and Musashi followed more gingerly, not least of which because Keita was still confined to a wheelchair that Musashi was pushing. The armed guards that they were passing were almost equally as unnerving as the facility itself.

The four finally reached another set of doors and after each of them were scanned to verify their identity let into a massive office. Only a small staff was present, no more than at most a dozen men and women. One woman in particular turned to greet them and the trio gasped in recognition.

"Generalmajor Klinge," Soren said and saluted. "I return with my charges."

"Excellent work Oberst," Klinge replied, causing the stunned looks to shift from herself to Soren. "I trust that at least the flight from Tokyo-3 went smoothly?"

"Yes ma'am," Soren said, "even if little else did."

Klinge chuckled and then turned to gaze at the three youngsters. Despite themselves they found her smile rather comforting.

"Mana Kirishima, Musashi Strasberg, Keita Asari. Welcome to Germany. I am Margaret Klinge and I will be serving as your legal guardian during your stay with us. I know you have many questions but I'm also quite sure your trip has been draining. How about we head down to the cafeteria and have a leisurely chat over lunch?"

The two boys nodded somewhat dumbly while Mana cast a glance towards Soren.

"Umm, will Reimer-san be joining us?" she asked.

That elicited somewhat pained looks from her friends but Mana kept her gaze fixed on the older man. It would be somewhat disparaging to suggest that the girl was flighty or fickle seeing all the shocks Mana had endured over the past week. Considering Soren had actively come to her defence twice and it was not surprising that the girl might see him as an anchor of sorts. Of course the fact that he had just happened to be driving by when the kidnapping attempt took place was too convenient to be dismissed as mere coincidence even by the somewhat awestruck girl. That did not in any way lessen Mana's respect for the fact that Soren had come to her aid.

The two boys on the other hand were a bit more uneasy. Musashi in particular found it hard to just swallow Soren's apparent good will, especially now knowing that he was apparently some sort of German military officer. Bad enough that his close friend Mana had been attracted to that scrawny EVA pilot, Soren was an even bigger threat considering his very real achievements as a musician, martial artist, and now apparently soldier. Then again on balance the age difference and the fact that Soren was married to a very intimidating woman made it less likely that Mana would latch onto him permanently, unless Mana grew up to be as daring as Colonel Kayabuki, which Musashi did not see happening. Still, the boys were yet young and at their age did not take any rivalry lightly.

Klinge chuckled at the scene, already understanding the dynamics at play. "Well Oberst, do you have some free time?"

Soren seemed to think about it before nodding. "I have no pressing obligations at present."

"Excellent. Then this way please."

The party made their way to the cafeteria and three stomachs were soon rumbling at the surprisingly edible smelling fare. Healthy helpings were soon piled on trays and the group took one of the more out of the way tables.

"Itadakimasu!"

Habits died hard for the three Japanese kids as they offered the customary thanks. Klinge simply smiled at the scene while Soren dug in without any preamble.

"You three will need to get a good night's sleep," Klinge said. "Tomorrow you'll be checked up at the hospital so that they can work out a treatment plan for the internal trauma your joints and muscles have suffered from piloting the Tridents."

"Umm, General," Mana began. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but, why is your country so willing to help us? What does Germany get out of it?"

What was the price that they would have to pay for this generosity, was the unspoken question.

"Well for me it's a chance to do the right thing," Klinge said. "I have always found the notion of using children as soldiers abhorrent and many in the German government agree with me. As for other motives, well, rest assured that we will not be asking you to disclose any information about the Tridents or the JSSDF. We have a fairly, robust, understanding of both already."

"I, see," Mana said, her question not entirely answered but getting a bit more than she had been expecting. Though that was at least a promising start. She looked over at Soren again. "Umm, Reimer-san, are you really part of the German military? If you can answer that, of course."

"My position is through the United Nations," Soren answered, "my term of service with the Heer ended with my conscription period."

Like many other European nations Germany still retained a conscription system. The turmoil of post-Second Impact resulted in significant demand for military strength for peacekeeping and even outright offensive actions and it was likely to take many more years before the world was safe enough for the surviving nation-states to consider abolishing the draft.

"Not that you need your pay as a colonel," Klinge said. "You make more than enough from your civilian job."

Soren shrugged. "Using that account to pay for meals and the like while on base is easier to hide than using my civilian accounts."

"True enough," Klinge conceded.

"But why are you a colonel?" Mana asked. "Umm, again if you can answer."

"That is a rather complex question," Soren said. "The Generalmajor will explain in further detail as part of your debriefing, but a simplistic explanation is that I watch for events that endanger either humanity or risk humanity sinking into depravity. When I encounter such incidents, I either report the issue to the, relevant agencies, or if the matter is sufficiently pressing intervene directly with what resources I can muster on site."

The squeal that sounded was so high pitched that for a moment no one was entirely sure they had actually heard anything. One glance at Mana however indicated that she was the source as she gazed at Soren in awe. Despite the abuses she suffered at the hands of the JSSDF, the girl still had an interest in military matters and the notion of Soren being some sort of secret agent protecting the world from the shadows had an undeniable appeal. Keita and Musashi only sighed in resignation. How were mere boys supposed to compete with that after all. Klinge on the other hand found this all terribly amusing whereas Soren, intimately familiar with his superior's nominal sense of humor, pretended not to notice the girl's adoration. No need to give Amanda even more reason to want his head on a-

The three children were thrown on the ground before they even knew what was happening. The gunfire that erupted made clear that it would be a very good idea to stay down though all three peeked to see just what was happening. Soren and Klinge had opened up on a robed figure standing at the other end of the cafeteria and the other personnel present quickly took their cue from their commanding officer. None of the shots actually found their mark, instead all of the rounds impacted against a translucent prismatic octagon. The next moment several of the soldiers closest to the figure were thrown aside, crashing into the walls with sickening thuds.

"This is Klinge, we've got an alpha-orange!" the general shouted into a radio. "Get Madison down here now!"

Another group of soldiers were tossed aside like rag dolls as the figure advanced. An arm rose from the robe and pointed a gun at Soren. Mana had just enough time to scream a warning when it fired. To the girl's shock none of the rounds reached Soren. Instead each impact revealed for a brief moment the same octagonal barrier their attacker was using. Even more astonishing each flicker of the field caused Soren's form to shift and morph, the man's features taking on a more eastern visage. A visage that was very, very familiar.

"Shinji-kun?" Mana muttered, barely aware that those words had left her lips.

"There you are," an icy voice sounded.

The voice was definitely feminine and gave Mana another start as she looked over at the mysterious attacker. Soren, or whoever he was, seemed unmoved and finished slapping in a new clip. He resumed firing without hesitation. The woman screamed in rage, unleashing a shockwave of some sort and throwing near everyone else off their feet. Soren braced himself, drawing upon the collective's will to bolster his AT-field. He withstood this blow but Alpha-Orange was relentless. The next moment she smashed into his AT-field, pressing hard and eroding it with her own.

The move was not without its drawbacks and with both their fields intertwined there was nothing separating the two. Soren raised his gun and let loose at full auto. All the bullets found their mark, smashing into the woman and causing her to stagger back with a cry of rage. The hood fell again, revealing that same brown hair. Her eyes however were a bloodshot red, filled with mindless anger and, remarkably, sorrow.

"You should have stayed down after last time," Soren said.

"I will not let you take my children from me!" the woman screamed.

Soren got off another shot before his pistol clicked empty but Alpha-Orange was barely slowed. She barreled into Soren, trying to grab hold of him. The German officer was not feeling obliging however, twisting out of the way and landing an elbow strike into the woman's back. His arm stung as if he had just tried to smash through solid granite. The woman did not even acknowledge the hit, twirling about and lunging for him again.

While Soren was too close to use his sidearm, Klinge was still off to the side. Conventional wisdom was to not try shooting an enemy that was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with someone on your side unless you were a damn good shot. Even then one did not take such risks without sharing a great deal of trust with the presently engaged. Klinge fulfilled both criteria and opened fire, nailing the other woman in the back, or so it appeared. The brief flashes of light was enough to tell Klinge that not one round actually hit.

"Soren, get her AT-field down!" Klinge ordered.

"Trying," the German man grunted.

Without an S2 organ to draw from this time the woman was considerably weaker, but that was only relative to their last encounter. With the thing assuming Yui Ikari's form fully lucid and consciously thinking and planning, Alpha-Orange was being downright sneaky in its tactics. Soren dodged another attempt to grab hold of him only to feel a tightly focused AT-field stab at him. He blocked it but found himself slammed back into the cafeteria wall. Alpha-Orange was definitely not fooling around and with him pinned like this the German man was at a considerable disadvantage, one all the fire being unloaded at his assailant by the other soldiers was not helping to overcome.

"Single minded bitch," Klinge muttered as she ejected another clip. "Madison, where the hell are you!"

"Incoming!"

The rounds that smashed into the woman this time did more than just slow her down. The cries she uttered were of pain, not annoyance, and the woman retreated under the onslaught. Leading the charge was a brunette touting a G3 rifle and accompanied by an entire squad of similarly armed soldiers.

"Sorry for the delay," the woman said cheerfully, "needed to round up the gang."

"Less talking more shooting!" Klinge snapped back.

"Roger wilco!"

"That is technically redundant," Soren said nonchalantly.

That the colonel's stoicism was seemingly unperturbed was remarkable all by itself. That they could even hear each other with all the gunfire was nothing short of unbelievable. Nevertheless the sheer firepower combined with the neutralizing effect of two AT-fields against their attacker's single field was beginning to tell. The woman writhed until the punishment and cried out in agony. Finally she collapsed, red cracks running across her skin and the formfitting suit under the robes. The soldiers ceased fire but kept their guns trained on the still form.

"Is she dead?" Madison asked.

"She would need to be alive in the first place," Soren replied. "As to whether she is still active however, the answer is yes."

"Damn, what's it gonna take to put her down for good?"

Soren walked over to the woman, gun at the ready. "We already know sufficient kinetic energy can neutralize her. We have a few options. But this is also an opportunity to determine what exactly she is and where she came from."

"Agreed," Klinge said. "Colonel, secure the prisoner and put her in deep freeze."

Madison offered a sloppy salute. "Roger!"

Cracking his neck, Soren turned toward the three kids. As he did so, his form shifted again back into that statuesque Teutonic visage they were familiar with. Gone was the homely Japanese face that Mana had recognized.

"Reimer-san?" Mana said hesitantly.

"I suppose an explanation is in order," Soren said.

Mana nodded.

"Well, fair enough. I take it your immediate question is who am I. I am for all practical purposes Soren Reimer. You would not however be amiss in calling me Shinji Ikari."

The young girl's reaction to this statement was quite a bit more dramatic. She fainted.

* * *

The woman that entered the conference room was a known specialist in metaphysical biology, a junior author to several papers published on the topic. She was also widely regarded as part of the third or perhaps fourth tier of researchers engaged in the field, competent but nothing spectacular. It was likely for this reason that Dr. Rachel Ackermann was never conscripted by NERV, though the generous remuneration and benefits package and plentiful funding such scientists received tended to quash any significant protests. Dr. Ackermann was thus gainfully employed by a German biotechnology company, one that was still relatively under the radar but whose work promised to have a substantial impact upon the world in due course. Officially she was stationed in one of the company's US branches working on her assigned project. Unofficially she had been stuffed into a hypersonic transport owned through multiple cutouts by the BND and ferried over the Atlantic to attend to a most pressing matter at one of the BND's black sites.

"So, what do we have?" Klinge asked without preamble.

"I sometimes wonder if fate has a sense of humor," Ackermann replied as she took a seat. "The, body, that you have in containment isn't human. It's not even a body in a biological sense. The closest equivalent would be an Angel's core, or perhaps more accurately, an EVA's."

"Interesting," Soren said. "About what we suspected."

"Probably also explains why she can generate an AT-field," Klinge added in. "It was remarkably powerful. Is she still a threat?"

"Almost certainly," said Ackermann. "My recommendation would be to dispose of her immediately."

Ruthless and pragmatic. Klinge rolled her eyes. Some things never changed.

"Tell me doctor," Soren said. "What percentage of an EVA core's mass would you say the woman we have right now represents?"

Ackermann blinked and thought it over for a few moments. "I'd say perhaps three, five percent at most. Are you suggesting destroying her will simply cause another one to appear?"

"Based on past experience, yes," Soren said dryly. "You said she was effectively a core. Does that mean it would be possible to synchronize with her?"

"Out of the question," Klinge snapped immediately.

"It's far too dangerous," Ackermann agreed.

"Yet necessary if we want answers," Soren persisted. "Thus far Alpha-Orange has attacked us four times. The first two times we were lucky that she seemed to be going after me but the third time she went after Shinji or Unit 01. We need to determine how to permanently neutralize her before she tries that again."

Klinge groaned. "You're going to do this regardless of what I say, aren't you?"

"That would be a safe assumption."

"Fine. Rachel, set up the gear." Klinge picked up her radio. "Metz, stay put, we're going to need you on standby in case this goes south on us."

"What goes south on us?"

"Soren's going to try to synchronize with Alpha-Orange."

A brief pause. "No pain no gain."

The general closed the channel. "There is something very wrong with that girl."

Ackermann snorted but made no further comment as she left the room.

"We don't know how long this will take," Klinge said. "I suggest you make any arrangements you deem necessary."

"I'm supposed to have dinner with Wilhelm sometime this week," Soren said. "If I am still under, you will need to host him."

Klinge nodded.

"Well then, I better see to my other affairs."

Like one very confused girl.

* * *

Mana work up feeling surprisingly refreshed, the soft feathery bed she was on probably a contributing factor. She sat up, a bit dazed at first and the unfamiliarity of the room did not register right away. The girl closed her eyes and sank back down onto the fluffy bed, it really was comfortable and ever so inviting. The image of Soren as Shinji flashed through her head. Mana bolted up, wide awake. She frantically looked around, noting the minimalistic albeit still comfortable looking room. There was a desk and chair off to the side as well as a closet for clothes, even her own private bathroom. If she had to say it this place looked more like a motel room than some kind of cell, so at the very least they were still treating her decently.

The girl looked down at her clothes, noting she was still wearing the simple outfit she had worn all the way back in Japan. It was getting a bit itchy at this point and a nice hot shower would not go unappreciated. Clothes however would be an issue as there was no sign of her luggage. A knock on the door however ended that line of thought.

"Hai, dozo!" Mana called out in Japanese instinctively. "Err, I mean, come in!"

The door opened and Soren entered, revealing the correction to English to have been unnecessary. Still it was a reminder to the girl that she was in a foreign country. For now though there were more pressing matters.

"Reimer-san," Mana greeted. "Or, is it Shinji-kun?"

"I would suggest my German name," Soren said, "to avoid confusion with the Shinji Ikari you know. How are you feeling?"

"Okay," the girl said. "A bit, confused."

"I will endeavor to clear up some of that confusion," Soren said. "May I?"

"Of course," Mana said, nodding at the chair. "Please. Umm, where am I?"

"One of the Bundesnachrichtendienst's secure guest rooms," Soren said as he took a seat. "What I'm about to tell you, you cannot tell anyone else. This is not only for your safety but ultimately for the sake of the world."

Mana swallowed. It was fairly obvious Soren was not exaggerating. She nodded.

"Do you know what the purpose of NERV is?" Soren asked the girl.

"To defeat the Angels," Mana answered.

"And why is defeating the Angels necessary?"

Mana frowned. "Because they're a threat to mankind."

"And they are a threat to mankind because?"

The girl shook her head, not even pretending she knew. "I have no idea."

Soren pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Some background then. Second Impact was not a meteorite, it was caused by a group of Angels we call Adams. The Angels we now face are capable of initiating a Third Impact under the right conditions if left alone, hence the need to destroy them."

Short, to the point, and blunt. Mana stared at Soren with wide eyes. Soren waited until she started blinking again.

"Umm, okay, I can see why we'd want to defeat them," Mana said. "So what does that have to do with, well, you?"

"Because I failed to prevent Third Impact," Soren stated. "And in this case, I mean the I that is Shinji Ikari."

The girl's head was starting to hurt. "Wait a minute, is this, like, some sort of time travel? Are you from the future or something?"

Soren seemed to think it over before answering. "In a manner of speaking. Modification of the timeline was certainly involved, though I am not from what you would consider your future."

"So what, some sort of parallel universe?"

The girl was smart, and surprisingly flexible in her mental processes.

"Close enough. I can't provide you with details, but suffice it to say we failed to prevent Third Impact and humanity effectively became extinct."

"So how did you get here then?" Mana asked.

"That's one of the details I can't tell you."

The girl grimaced. "Okay, what's a detail you can tell me?"

"That if things go according to plan, Third Impact will be prevented in your future."

"And I suppose the 'plan' is also a detail you can't tell me?"

"More or less."

Mana regarded the man for a few seconds before finally letting out a huff. "Your younger self is cuter."

Soren's mouth twitched in a slight smile, an act that did not go unnoticed by the girl.

"Can you, show me what you really look like?" she asked.

An eyebrow rose. "Why?"

"Well, if you are Shinji-kun, then I want to see what kind of man you grow up into."

Soren regarded the girl before shrugging. With the motion came a shift in his form and the next moment he sat before Mana as a Japanese man in his thirties. Mana pulled herself off the bed and walked back and forth examining him.

"Hmm, not bad," she said playfully. "Say, does that make Sommer-san Asuka-san?"

"What makes you say that?" Soren asked, his voice reflecting his form.

Mana giggled. "Because it's pretty obvious if you think about it. Those two are definitely going to get together."

That was the plan, though Soren was not about to tell Mana that.

"Do you have any other questions or requests?" Soren asked instead.

Mana stopped pacing and shook her head. "Not really. Oh!"

She stepped next to Soren and planted a simple, very chaste, peck on his cheek. The man regarded her curiously. Mana simply stuck out her tongue.

"Consider that my thank you for everything you and Shinji-kun have done for me."

"You really do want me to get in trouble with Amanda," Soren muttered.

The girl tilted her head in confusion but soon enough her eyes widened. "Wait, Colonel Kayabuki is me!?"

Soren cursed under his breath. The girl really was too perceptive by half.

"I make colonel!?" Mana said excitedly. "That's so cool!"

Soren stood, shifting back to his original form in the process. "Try to keep that to yourself. The last thing you want to do is to blow her, well, your cover."

Mana's head bobbed up and down. She then let out another squeal. Soren chuckled and ruffled the girl's hair.

"I need to get back to work. Musashi and Keita have been worried about you so go let them know you're alright."

"How much do they know?"

"About what I told you. You can compare notes with them."

The girl nodded and Soren did likewise before turning to leave.

"Reimer-san."

The man stopped and glanced back.

"Thank you. Again. For everything."

The smile that accompanied those words almost seemed to shine. Soren offered one of his own before taking his leave.

* * *

The vault did not officially exist on the blueprints for the building though with enough time a competent architect might notice something strange about the foundations and infer its presence. Its walls were solid steel lined with lead and a variety of safeguards were in place to destroy anything inside it should such a need arise. The squadron of soldiers led by Madison stationed with weapons pointed at the hunk of bakelite. Besides them the only other people present were Ackermann and Klinge.

"Don't take too long," Madison said with a smirk as Soren entered. "I still need to pack for my flight."

"Duly noted," Soren said as he sank into the chair prepared for him.

Ackermann walked over and placed a pair of interface clips on his head. "I've set up the feed. After this it's all up to you."

"Understood doctor."

"Do not try to dive too deeply in," Ackermann warned. "We may not be able to pull you out if you cross the threshold."

Soren nodded.

"You sure I can't talk you out of this?" Klinge said.

"We need the information," Soren stated. "Acquiring it merits the risks involved."

"Have I ever told you you're stubborn as a mule?"

"Numerous times," Soren replied dryly.

"Well I'm obviously not doing it enough." Klinge sighed. "Very well, Colonel Reimer. Begin operation."

Soren leaned back and closed his eyes. The sensation that washed over him was familiar, almost nostalgic. His body tingled slightly as the sensations of another filtered in. Yet this time there was no expansion of his senses, no greater vision to behold. Only a chilling smallness, a dark void. This, was not how an EVA should have felt. Soren went deeper.

"Synchronization at 140%," Ackermann reported.

Klinge watched the still form of her protégé intently. All of the men and women in the room could feel the coldness that Soren was experiencing, a stark contrast from the memory of warmth a certain boy felt whenever he was in an EVA. If Alpha-Orange's body was truly part of an EVA's core, something was very, very wrong.

"170%."

Nothing from his physical surroundings reached Soren, his mind too deeply embedded with that of the core. He could see something now, something more than a little unexpected. The form was obviously that of Yui Ikari but the state, the body, was twisted and broken. Scars covered the woman and every slight motion caused a whimper to escape her. Even the mere act of breathing seemed to elicit pain. At this moment even Soren's stoicism cracked.

"My god, who did this to you?"

Yui jerked, the motion causing her to cry in pain. When she caught sight of Soren, of Shinji, she began sobbing.

"Stay away, please, don't hurt me anymore, please," she begged.

Soren frowned, hanging above the woman. Something was very, very wrong here. He extended a hand but Yui reared back, desperately trying to keep away even as every movement seemed to exaggerate her suffering.

"Mother," Soren said softly.

The crying grew louder. "No, no, please, no more, please…"

Soren hesitated, but finally drew close nonetheless. As if resigned to her fate Yui's body went limp even as the tears continued pouring forth.

"Please…"

Gently Soren placed a hand on her head. The contact nearly threw him back out.

"Feedback!" Ackermann shouted. "Dear lord, hold him down!"

Two of the soldiers piled onto Soren, barely managing to keep the thrashing man from convulsing off the seat.

Soren fought back the wave of pain and sorrow, forcing himself to see what was happening. He watched as a Shinji Ikari, angry and crazed by his father's abandonment to the point of psychopathy, reject the demand that he pilot the EVA. He saw the desperation of NERV as they tried to revive a Rei Ayanami to have her pilot Unit 01 despite her wounds, and fail. He witnessed the holocaust that was the defeat of Sachiel as the JSSDF desperately employed so many N2 warheads that Tokyo-3 was effectively wiped off the face of the Earth. And then the real suffering began. The death of Gendo Ikari, executed as part of a Faustian bargain signed by that Shinji. The first time he synchronized with the EVA, the boy's rage seeping into the core and eating away at the soul that dwelled within.

"Madness," Soren muttered.

Yui whimpered again. "Please. Just, stop. Just, let me go."

Soren regarded the pitiful woman, a mother utterly destroyed by her own child. He could do it, Soren knew. The link that this core fragment provided was enough for him to backtrack to this other score, destroy it entirely, and end Yui's suffering. But the power such an act demanded was, while not beyond him, enough to potentially compromise the collective's own goals here in this score. That he could not endanger. But neither could he just leave this woman, this reflection of his mother, to suffer like this.

Her previous attacks made sense now. She was trying to escape, trying to find some way to leave behind her abuser, her torturer, and the resonance created by the collective's actions must have acted as a burning beacon. Except upon stumbling across this score, she found Soren, whose resonance with her son, her own son, must have been painfully similar in tune. And so she struck, seeking to destroy this threat to this other child of hers, the one that had not been consumed by rage to the point of insanity.

Soren caressed Yui's head, expending a modicum of his power to lessen the pain from her wounds. They may not have been physical, but the woman's broken visage was a reflection of her shattered soul.

"Soon mother," Soren said. "I will find a way to set you free."

Her eyes cleared for a moment as she gazed up at him. And then she slumped back down, her body twisting about unnaturally. Her Shinji must have been piloting again. Soren regarded the scene with open disgust but took a step back. He could not help her yet, he needed more power to do so. And he knew exactly where to get it.

* * *

"Well," Klinge said. "Hell."

"Vengeance taken to its logical extreme," Ackermann said with a shake of her head. "A desire to destroy everything the object of your hatred held dear, including yourself."

"But how did that score even get intertwined with ours?" Klinge asked. "There can't possibly be any sort of resonance."

"There is," Soren said. "I am the point of resonance."

Ackermann and Klinge looked over at him.

"But, but you're not insane," Klinge said. "Okay sure you have a major axe to grind, but you're not so off the edge that you're in scorched earth mode, we'd know if you were."

"While that is true, I do have very specific reasons for being here," Soren said, "and vengeance is one of them. In fact it is a very strong reason for why I am here, even perhaps the strongest. It would be, unwise, to discount that."

Klinge grimaced, inferring the double meaning in that last sentence. "Alright, so it's your fault basically. What do you plan on doing about it?"

"Severing the connection is straightforward enough now that we know it is there," Soren said, "but this, Ikari, is an aberration. There is no telling what kind of damage he will do if left unchecked. The last thing we need is to have an instrumentality with him as the focus."

"So, what, you going to go after him like his Yui went after you?" Klinge asked.

"No," Soren replied. "We require a more permanent solution. I intend to destroy his Unit 01, preferably him along with it."

The two women stared at him.

"And how do you plan to achieve this?" Ackermann asked for them.

"With sufficient energy I can initiate a negative energy inversion at their Tokyo-3, wiping out everything in the area."

The silence was palatable.

"You're talking about committing genocide," Klinge said coldly.

"Nothing I have not done before," Soren replied, eliciting a very dark scowl from his mentor. The man snorted. "Yes, I am intending to commit genocide, but let us keep some perspective here. That, score, is so far beyond the point of return that there is nothing worth salvaging from it. Its destruction however severs a dissonant factor that has already caused us significant grief. Right now the only thing that links us to them is their Yui Ikari, but that may well change in the future. Imagine the damage if that Shinji started resonating with ours, especially as the endgame approaches."

The looks on their faces said it all, neither Klinge nor Ackermann particularly wanted to do that.

"Fine," Klinge said. "Even assuming we go along with it, where would you get that much energy?"

"That's the easy part," Soren said.

Klinge coughed. "You're joking."

The German man shrugged. "I am scheduled to go to the Second Branch to help oversee the final activation test for Unit 04 anyway. In the process I should also be able to do something about the Dirac sea implosion."

Klinge and Ackermann exchanged looks.

"You're making this more and more complicated," Klinge said. "The risk of you failing is far higher than I am comfortable with."

Soren raised an eyebrow. "Where has your daring gone, Generalmajor?"

"Tempered by experience and loss," Klinge replied immediately.

Soren looked at the woman levelly before nodding. "I appreciate your concerns. I will present you with more detailed plans for this, operation, before I ask you to commit the necessary resources to support me. Is that acceptable?"

"So long as you understand that if I find your plans insufficient, you are not to carry out this plan to try burning another score."

A brief silence fell before Soren nodded again. "I will refrain from my desired course of action if you disapprove. I will however terminate Unit 01. That needs to be done at a minimum in order to sever the connection between the respective scores."

"And to end her suffering?"

"And that as well."

"Acceptable."

"Good. Now, was there anything else?"

"What do we tell SEELE about Alpha-Orange?"

"We tried to contain it and it disappeared, much like the second time it appeared," Soren said.

"The old men are going to get increasingly restless about it," Ackermann pointed out.

"True enough," Soren agreed, his eyes flashing scarlet. "Shall we throw them a bone? Suggest that I am the one Alpha-Orange is actually after."

Klinge's eyes narrowed. "For the Adam implanted in you?"

Soren nodded, the blue of his iris returning as he blinked. "With the Adam embryo in her possession, Yui Ikari could force instrumentality on her own terms."

"That could cause them to panic and insist on keeping you locked up," Ackermann pointed out.

"Not if I have an assured means of defeating her. Is the weapon I requested complete?"

Klinge nodded. "Rachel."

The doctor picked up the large case she had brought in and placed it before Soren. The man clicked it open and looked down at the weapon it held. An eyebrow rose.

"You're joking."

"Nope," Klinge said, a remarkably good cheer replacing her previous somber manner.

"This is a joke," Soren reiterated.

"In no way whatsoever," Klinge did the same.

The man sighed and picked up the weapon. "Unless I am mistaken, the Thompson-Center Contender is a single-shot pistol."

"You are not mistaken."

"And this, is what your R&amp;D has come up with for my request for a better weapon."

"The ammunition the customized Contender fires is a special anti-AT-field munition," Ackermann explained. "It is capable of penetrating any actively projected AT-field, in theory at least."

"Meaning it's just a regular bullet as far as a human is concerned," Soren said as he picked up a round and examined it. "A very large bullet. A saboted .45-70?"

"More or less," said Klinge. "That thing should have enough stopping power to take down any human sized entity wielding an AT-field. Madison tested it, and according to her it hurts like hell having your field blown through."

Soren gazed at the round for a few moments longer. "Good."

* * *

"It's me."

Kaji looked out cautiously before holstering his gun. "So it is."

The woman outside lay down a bowl of scraps and the normally reticent stray cats scampered over without hesitation.

"Shannon Bio Incorporated, a foreign chemical firm. It was established nine years ago and its corporate filing for each of those nine years has remained unchanged. Amongst the 108 companies associated with the Marduk Institute, 106 are dummies."

Kaji sighed. "And this is the 107th?"

The woman slid a folder towards Kaji. "The company's registration."

Picking it up, Kaji glanced through the document. "You don't say."

"You recognize the names?"

Kaji simply grinned. "Most of them."

"The Marduk Institute, established under the auspicious of the UN Human Instrumentality Committee as a think tank independent from NERV for the purpose of selecting EVA pilot candidates," the woman said. "Your job is supposed to be investigating NERV itself. Poking another slumbering beast might be biting off more than you can chew."

"What can I say," Kaji said. "I follow my nose to wherever the truth may lay. Thanks for your help."

"The 108th associated company," the woman said, causing Kaji to come to a halt. "Morgenroete. It has been remarkably active for a dummy."

Kaji's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"It is a major contractor for the UN, providing logistics support for military and humanitarian operations. It also seems to have interests in a variety of industries and the protected turnover is, substantial. "

"Is that so," Kaji mused. "Well, that's quite the juicy tidbit. And what do I owe you for this unexpected bonus?"

The woman chuckled. "Try not to die."

Kaji flashed an easy smile. "I will endeavor to please."

End of Chapter 27

One might wonder how I got this chapter out so quickly. The answer is simple. Half of it was already written previously and part of the master draft that is currently at nearly 240k words. My estimate is that I'll be at around 300k by the time this fic is finished. Conversely this will mean that the next chapter will take longer to write.

Let's see, how many bombshells have I dropped this chapter. There's the first genuine confirmation of who Soren is, minus some obvious details that I'm still only hinting at. What Alpha-Orange is, more on that a bit later. The reason why, back so many chapters ago, Lorenz seemed to regard Soren as even more dedicated to instrumentality than his granddaughter. You guys didn't really think that was just an offhand comment, did you? By the way, Soren is also sterile. That should be enough for all of you to chew on for a while.

Vengeance is, an interesting fic. I suppose in some respects it is the most, realistic, of how the characters really should be responding to their stresses. Though I would count the, 'eloquence' of Shinji's speeches as a mark against that realism seeing as it is highly unlikely a 14 year old would be that good at breaking people's perceptions. And after a certain point he sounded more whiny than anything else what with his ranting about how everything done to him is an injustice and etc. After a certain point this fixation on basically a scorched earth approach gets tiresome, from my perspective at least. When I was considering how I might write a story where Shinji was a psychopath intent on going after his father, I couldn't see a way to end the story in a satisfactory manner. Or continue it for that matter after a certain point. Not unless I wanted to subvert the concept in some way.

Anyway, I should make clear that even though I'm borrowing a few concepts, what Soren intends to do should not be inferred as some desire on my part to kill or disparage the Vengeance fic. For me it's just a useful plot mechanism since it allows me to explore _Soren_ more deeply and drop more hints about him. I leave all of you to form your own opinions about the other fic.

I know I have a few German readers but even they may not have gotten some of the in-jokes Katerose and Soren were trading, so a bit of background. Katerose is an officer of the Luftwaffe while Soren served in the Heer for a stint. Within the Bundeswehr there are a couple of jokes told about the different branches and one goes like this. The Bundeswehr is all one big boat. The army rows, the navy steers, and the air force is on the water skis. Hence Katerose's jib about Soren needing the muscles to row. Another one, told by the other branches about the air force, goes something like this. Soldiers of the army, men of the navy, and gentlemen of the air force. The air force is considered more 'exclusive' from the perspective of the other branches, likely due to the way their commissioned officer structure works, amongst other things. So just some friendly ribbing between two members of different branches. Thanks goes to my friend in the German Air Force for the background. He may be showing up as a non-sidestepper officer sometime.

At this point Mana's role in the prime storyline is basically concluded. She'll still show up from time to time, but she's fulfilled her intended role in the plot. Next, Mari and Maria. Mari should be fun to write. And Maria, is going to be challenging. Oh, and for those asking for more actual Asuka x Shinji, don't worry, next chapter will see some further prodding. Enjoy it while you can, things are going to go really downhill once Bardiel appears. In spite of everything the sidesteppers have done in preparation for it.

Anyway, feedback is always welcome.


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Dualität

Rei opened her eyes.

"Test complete," a voice announced. "Terminating links with Unit 01."

On the observation deck Ritsuko leaned over the terminal and absorbed the information scrolling past.

"This is quite promising," she said.

"Rei-san's synchro rate is almost exactly the same as when she's in Unit 00," Maya said. "That's incredible."

"Indeed," Ritsuko said somewhat halfheartedly.

The result was not that surprising, assuming one knew what she did. Whether Unit 01 was accepting of Rei because the girl was a physical clone of the soul that now dwelled in it or because Rei's own soul was, at home for the lack of better wording, in Unit 01's form, was unknown, but the end result was still the same. The girl could synchronize with Unit 01 and so she was a suitable template for the dummy plugs. Once the system was complete, perhaps they could exert some more control over the temperamental EVA instead of having to rely on it berserking when Shinji was in danger. That having it would also reduce NERV and by extension the elder Ikari's dependency on Shinji was a not so minor point.

"Alright Rei, we're done for today," Ritsuko said. "You can go home now."

Rei let out a sigh as she waited for the entry plug to be withdrawn. Being inside Unit 01 was both strange and strangely familiar. The girl could sense the warmth that Shinji often described but she dared not try embracing it. There was no telling what would happen if she opened herself to Unit 01 like that, whether her soul would be able to remain anchored to her physical form.

The girl was not afraid of death per se, but she had responsibilities that were ingrained upon her that she would be unable to fulfill if she cast aside her physical form. Then there were other, more sentimental reasons for wanting to be whole. The attachments that Rei found herself forming were unexpected, but not unwelcome. Shinji was one such attachment, one Rei found herself increasingly thinking about. The Second was also, interesting, from Rei's perspective. The other girl could be combative, overly assertive, and yet extremely protective. The combination was more than a little confusing, though Rei did see an earnestness that tempted Rei. So even if she did not consider the girl to be as 'close' as Shinji, the relationship was not one Rei wished to end. Personal relationships, Rei was coming to the conclusion, were complicated. Complicated, but ultimately worth it.

* * *

"Asuka-san?"

Asuka looked up from her mopping. "Hmm?"

The pigtailed girl clapped her hands together. "I have a favor to ask."

"Well, ask," Asuka replied. "So long as it's doable it shouldn't be a problem."

"I was supposed to take Nozomi to the amusement park this weekend but something's come up and I can't make it. I know it's asking a lot, but could you please take her instead?"

"Is that it? Sure, I can do that," Asuka said.

"Thank you!"

"So, do I come and pick her up from your place?"

Hikari shook her head. "Nee-san will be dropping her off at the ticket booths. She'll hang around until you get there, but then she needs to come help me."

"No problem," Asuka said. "So, what're you going to be busy with?"

Hikari giggled. "It's a surprise."

"Really?" Asuka said with a smile of her own. "Well, I'm looking forward to it."

"Oh, but make sure not to tell Shinji-kun," Hikari said.

"Huh?" Asuka blinked. "Why?"

"The surprise is actually for Sakura-chan, Toji's little sister," Hikari said. "That's the reason I need to duck out. Toji, doesn't always watch his mouth and if he knew about it he might accidentally say something to Sakura-chan. I want to keep this under wraps so I haven't even told him."

"Heh, I see," Asuka said with a smirk. "Well, you can count on me. Your boyfriend'll never know what hit him."

Hikari smiled brightly back at Asuka as the other girl threw in a few more reassurances. Things were going according to plan. Now they just needed the other half to fall into place.

Back in the classroom Shinji was similarly distracted from his cleaning duties. Rei was kneeing on the floor, wringing excess water from the cloth she was using. It, reminded him of his mother for some reason. Perhaps a faint memory of seeing her do the same thing. Shinji wondered idly what else Rei might share with his, no, their mother.

"Men!"

The thoughts were interrupted by a solid whack of his head as Toji brought down his broomstick.

"Ah!"

"Get back to work!" the jock cried.

"The same goes for you!" Hikari called from the doorway. "Stop playing around!"

"Yes ma'am!" Toji said, hurriedly withdrawing his mop.

After Hikari retreated Toji turned to his friend.

"So Shin-man, got a favor ta ask ya."

"Not sure I'm feeling particularly accommodating right now," Shinji said as he rubbed his head.

"Ah don't sweat the small stuff," Toji said. "Anyway, you free this weekend?"

That, was a somewhat complicated question. Technically this weekend he was supposed to go visit his mother's tomb, but part of the boy was already thinking about how to get out of it. The reasons were pretty straightforward, Shinji did not particularly want to have to spend however long it was in awkward silence with his father visiting what was basically an empty grave. His mother had died while inside Unit 01 and based on what Amanda had been able to discreetly tell him no body had ever been recovered. In some ways that made the EVA itself his mother's tomb, which had been more than a bit creepy the first time he climbed in after learning about that. He still felt a bit weird about it, but at the same time that might also explain the sense of warmth he felt when piloting. The warmth that was so nostalgic, like being in his mother's arms. The boy had eventually concluded that that was probably wishful thinking, but he was not completely ready to discard the sentiment.

"Depends," Shinji finally said. "I can make time depending on how important it is."

"Well, I've got a little surprise lined up for Sakura, I'm taking her to the amusement park this weekend," Toji whispered. "I'd like you to come as well."

"Me? Why me?"

"Well, for some reason she seems to really like you, can't see it myself," Toji said. "But since she'd be even happier with you along, I thought what the hell."

Shinji chuckled. This, this actually sounded like a decent excuse. Commemorating the anniversary of his mother's death by helping make a little girl smile. That sounded like a worthy endeavor.

"Sure, I can make some time for that," Shinji said. "Is anyone else coming?"

"Nah, just the three of us, but keep quiet about this," Toji said in an exaggerated whisper. "Don't tell the class rep or Shikinami or Ayanami."

"Oh? Why?"

"If Shikinami or Ayanami know they might say something to Hikari, who might say something to her little sis, who will definitely blab to Sakura and ruin the surprise."

"That seems a tad paranoid," Shinji said. "I'm sure Asuka or Ayanami or the class rep can keep a secret."

"I'm not taking any chances," Toji said. "C'mon, swear on your honor as a man! You won't let them find out!"

Shinji looked at his friend before chuckling. "Alright, if you think it's that important."

"Thanks man, I owe ya one."

With that Shinji continued with the wiping down of the room. Toji sighed as the other boy walked off.

"What am I doing," he muttered.

Hikari's head poked into the room and Toji immediately flashed her a smile and thumbs up. The girl smiled back before retreating again.

"Keeping in your girlfriend's good graces by sacrificing your best friend," Kensuke said.

"Whoa! How long you been there!?"

"Since you fed Shinji that line of bull about this being a surprise for Sakura," the other boy said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Toji said, looking away resolutely.

"Sure you don't, just like you don't know about the class rep asking Shikinami-san to accompany her little sister to the amusement park this weekend."

Toji quickly shushed his friend. "Quiet man! If you spill the beans I guarantee you Hikari will end you."

"I know," Kensuke said. "But still, are you sure about this? I mean, trying to set those two up."

Toji shrugged. "Hikari seems to think it's a good idea, and if I'm perfectly honest? Shikinami might be a really big bitch, but she's not that bad of a person."

"Oh? And where did this revelation come from?"

Another shrug. "I guess I kinda knew when Shin-man lost, his, girl. She was there for him, you know. She's the one that got him out of his funk."

Kensuke nodded. "Yeah, I guess there is that. Still, gonna be quite the sight when she finds out she was set up."

"Which is why I intend to be far, far away from ground zero," Toji said. "Now c'mon, we better get back to work before Hikari hunts us down again."

* * *

"It seems a tad unnecessary, buying a dress just to wear it once," Ritsuko said.

"Yeah but you know, I can't just show up in any old thing, it's a wedding after all," Misato said. "So what are you planning on wearing?"

"I have a decent black dress that should be appropriate," Ritsuko replied even as her attention remained on the sync test currently being run.

The door opened and Amanda entered.

"How are they looking?" she asked.

"Pretty good," Misato said. "Shinji-kun's sync rate has really been climbing of late. At this rate he might even surpass Asuka."

Amanda tilted her head thoughtfully. Under different circumstances that happening would trigger a catastrophic chain of events for the girl, but right now Asuka's mental state was actually quite balanced. Currently she would see Shinji's improvement as a challenge and would be doing her best to keep her prized first place. The problem of course was what was headed their way.

"So we're certain Shinji can still pilot?" Amanda asked.

"Fairly," Ritsuko said. "We haven't put him into the actual EVA yet, but he's able to hold a respectable sync rate in the simulation plugs. I want to run a few more tests before we try the real thing."

"So long as the Angels are willing to be accommodating," Amanda said.

Ritsuko grimaced but nodded. "That is a point, but we are scheduled to receive Unit 05 early next week. So long as no attacks occur until then, I would recommend keeping Shinji as a reserve instead of immediately deploying him."

"That'll depend on what form the next Angel takes," Misato said. "If it looks like we need all four EVAs to take it out, we'll have to risk it."

"Naturally," Ritsuko said dryly. "Anyway, did you need something Amanda, or are you just here to sightsee?"

"Just wanted to let you know," Amanda said without really specifying which 'you' she meant. "I've gotten Kaji's finalized report involving Trident. Looks like the Japanese government is officially admitting fault and is actually dishonorably discharging quite a few mid-tier officers and bureaucrats involved in the project and putting them on trial."

"Nice," Misato said. "And Hirokawa?"

"Stripped of rank and booted out of the JSSDF," Amanda said. "He'll still be tried by a military tribunal since he was still an officer when he committed his crimes, plus it taking place in a UN military hospital and all that."

"Are you going to push for the death sentence?"

"For attempted murder of a minor? You better believe it."

Misato nodded firmly. "Good."

"Anyway, news delivered," Amanda said and turned towards the door. "I'm going to be busy with preparing for the transfer of Unit 05 this weekend, and since Soren is also gone let's call off poker night."

"Alright," Misato said. "See ya later then."

Amanda disappeared through the door with a wave and Misato turned back to watch the video feeds. The test was wrapping up now and Asuka was stretching on the monitor.

"Good work all," Ritsuko said. "That's it for tonight."

Misato idly wondered what Shinji had in mind for dinner. That was after all the only thing of importance left this evening.

* * *

The elevator door opened to reveal Rei standing inside.

"Ayanami," Shinji greeted with a smile as he got in.

"Ikari-kun," Rei responded with a nod.

"You're accompanying, Father, on Saturday, right?" Shinji asked.

"Yes."

"Then could you pass on a message? Tell him I won't be visiting mother's, memorial, with him."

Rei looked over at Shinji with a slight frown.

"Something wrong?" Shinji asked.

"Why."

The boy looked aside somewhat sheepishly. "Toji asked if I could accompany his sister to the amusement park. And, to be frank, that's a much better use of my time than trying to figure out what to say to a man that obviously doesn't want me around."

Rei blinked. This was not the first time Shinji had expressed a distrust or even dislike of the man that was supposed to be his father. The girl felt a disquiet at the distance between the two.

"How do you know he does not want you around."

It took Shinji a moment to realize his anger had spiked but he caught himself before an outburst escaped him. The last time that happened he was left with a red welt after all and he had no desire to re-experience that.

"A person lets others know how they feel by their actions," Shinji said. "My, father, has made quite clear he does not want to be that for me. And if he isn't my father, then he's a stranger, and I have others now that I would rather spend my time with because they too want me with them."

Rei was silent for several moments before finally responding. "I see."

And in truth she did see, in her own way. Shinji believed that his father did not care for him because the man did not treat him with any consideration. So if his father treated him with the consideration Shinji desired, the boy would reciprocate. It was a simplistic conclusion, but based on the information she had available it was the natural one for Rei to come to.

* * *

Soren opened the door to reveal a sandy-haired man and a redhaired woman standing at his door.

"Wilhelm, Katerose, come in."

"It's good to see you again Soren," Wilhelm said, giving the other man's hand a firm shake. "Abigail's been asking after you as well, she really wanted to come tonight."

Soren smiled slightly at the mention of Asuka's younger half-sister. "Please pass on my apologies to the Fraulein, but my time in Berlin will be short and I have quite a few matters of business to attend to."

"Running errands for your wife?" Wilhelm asked as he hung up his coat.

"She provided me with a shopping list," Soren said dryly.

Wilhelm burst out laughing. "Yes, I can imagine her having trouble getting certain things in Japan."

The trio migrated over to the living room where Soren had a bottle of wine being chilled in some ice. Interestingly all of the food was also laid out on the coffee table.

"We're eating in here?" Katerose said.

"A working dinner," Soren explained. "Please, sit."

As his guests found spots Soren uncorked the wine and filled glasses for all of them. He set the bottle next to some scotch, which was presumably for after the meal.

"Well, for a working dinner this looks quite impressive," Wilhelm said. "I hope this isn't for buttering me up for something."

The lack of response from Soren was unsurprising, the German man's stoicism was legendary after all. The grimace from Katerose was much more telling and Wilhelm's own smile disappeared.

"What?"

Soren picked up a plate and proceeded to gather upon it a variety of dishes as he spoke. "There has been some developments, that might see your daughter endangered, Herr Langley."

Wilhelm's eyes narrowed. "What developments."

"Please," Soren said, pointing at the food with a fork.

Reluctantly Wilhelm picked up his own plate, indulging Soren and piling on things from here and there. He even popped a piece of roast into his mouth.

"What developments?" Wilhelm repeated after swallowing.

Soren was still chewing but did not make the other man wait too long. "Two developments, one recent and the other a continuation of something that began long ago. You are aware that the Fraulein has grown, close, to the other pilots assigned to NERV-Tokyo?"

Wilhelm nodded. "Her letters mention that she's living with the other girl, Ray or something?"

"Rei," Soren corrected, stressing the name correctly. "The two have an amicable relationship, perhaps even an outright friendship. It is however her relationship with the other pilot that is of note."

Wilhelm frowned. "The, boy? Asuka hasn't said much about him. Besides mentioning he went through a really tough time. Something about losing someone close to him."

"Shinji Ikari," Soren said. "That is his name. And as for his loss, a girl that he was becoming close to, died due to one of the Angel attacks."

The other man's eyes widened before his face was twisted by a grimace. "I see. That, must have been hard for him."

Harder than the older man might think, Soren knew, but he had no intention of explaining that bit.

"The Fraulein has herself been growing closer to Herr Ikari," Soren went on. "She, sympathizes with him, and seems to consider him a worthy comrade. She also emphasizes with him."

That got Wilhelm's attention and his paternal instincts flared. "Emphasizes."

"You are aware that Herr Ikari's mother died in the contact experiment she conducted with Unit 01."

Wilhelm nodded grimly. "I see. I, suppose that would explain that. But, you are suggesting that her, closeness, to the boy is or will put her in danger?"

"Correct."

"Then we should keep them apart."

Soren frowned. "I'm afrad that's not possible. The Fraulein is a major stabilizing factor for Herr Ikari and attempting to separate the two would be highly detrimental to his mental state."

Wilhelm scowled. "Look, if he ends up hurting her-"

"You misunderstand Herr Langley," Soren cut the other man off. "Herr Ikari would never willingly harm the Fraulein. In fact if any harm does come to her he is at risk of burning this world."

Wilhelm blinked. "What?"

"Herr Ikari has experienced a great deal of pain in his life, Wilhelm," Soren said, softening his tone. "That means he clings tighter to those people that are still close to him, including your daughter. If something were to happen to her, he is in a position to do a great deal of harm due to his status as the pilot of Unit 01, arguably the most powerful Evangelion we have."

As an employee of NERV-Berlin Wilhelm had access to at least the less classified reports coming out from Tokyo-3. Since Asuka's transfer he had paid special attention to them, especially the after action reports from the battle with the Angels. While even the un-redacted versions that Amanda snuck him were light on specific numbers, they made quite clear that the EVAs were capable of immense devastation. And if Soren was right about Unit 01 being the most powerful of the series, Wilhelm shuddered to think what might happen if it went on a rampage.

"This, Shinji, does not sound entirely healthy," Wilhelm said.

Katerose snorted but a quick glance from Soren stopped her from commenting.

"Herr Ikari does have quite a few mental scars," Soren conceded. "However, so does the Fraulein and with the right guidance she has managed to hold herself together. Amanda and I have been pursuing a similar program of, therapy, with Herr Ikari, and it seems to be working. I have no personal qualms of the rapport the two have established and I consider it in their best interests that it be encouraged."

Wilhelm managed not to wince at the mention of Asuka. Much of that guidance Soren referred to had not come from him, a fact that still shamed the man. But he also got the main point Soren was trying to make and nodded.

"Alright, so Shinji is personally not a danger to my daughter," he said. "I'll accept your assurances of that. What you mean then is that he's an indirect threat, because someone might try to use Asuka to influence him?"

"Correct."

Wilhelm took a deep breath. "How do you protect your children from something like that?"

Soren popped a carrot into his mouth, a hint that Wilhelm took as he began clearing his own plate.

"There are both direct and indirect means of doing so," Soren said after swallowing. "The Fraulein has a very dedicated Section-2 detachment watching over her in addition to a rapid reaction team on standby. Indirectly, well, that is a bit more complicated."

Wilhelm chewed thoughtfully. "How complicated."

"Attempts to directly harm the Fraulein, at least outside of a battle against the Angels, are highly unlikely to succeed," Soren said. "Anyone who wishes to get at her must do so indirectly, either by harming her family and friends, or by setting her up for a fall."

"That you bring this up means you think someone is going to try it," Wilhelm stated. He had not attracted Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami's attention just with looks after all.

"The upper echelons of NERV have an agenda that would use your daughter as a, catalyst," Soren replied.

The glass shattered in Wilhelm's hand and the wine soaked his hand.

"Shit, apologies Soren," Wilhelm said, setting down his plate as Katerose handed him a napkin.

Sore waited as the other man wiped his hand and did his best to soak up the spilled wine. Fortunately the sofa was leather.

"I presume there is a reason you are telling me this," Wilhelm said.

"I am telling you to keep you from doing anything rash, like trying to confront your superiors," Soren said. "Leave that to people like Katerose and myself."

Wilhelm looked at his sister in surprise who simply nodded in affirmation. He then looked back at Soren.

"Who, are you exactly, Herr Reimer?"

"Colonel Soren Reimer, UN IPEA Inspector-General."

Wilhelm's eyes widened. "You-you're a-my god, you're part of the IPEA?"

Soren tilted his head in response. "Our mandate is to prevent the abuse of the Evangelion technology. Trying to manipulate the pilots into acts that could endanger mankind falls within acts we are supposed to stop."

"You know who's behind this then?" Wilhelm said. "Why haven't you gone after them already?"

"Who says we haven't? But as I said, the situation is complex. Some of these individuals are in crucial positions within NERV's hierarchy and removing them at this juncture is liable to weaken NERV's ability to combat the Angels. Whatever else these men and women may be guilty of, their contribution to the survival of the human race currently remains essential."

Wilhelm kept his gaze locked on Soren. "And once their, contribution, is no longer necessary?"

"Then I put a bullet in them."

A part of Wilhelm felt uneasy with the casualness with which Soren seemed prepared to dispense violence. Another part, the father that he was becoming again, had a very different reaction.

"Good."

"In the mean time we have taken steps to try to protect the pilots, your daughter included," Soren said. "We, would like you to also assist in those steps."

"What do you need me to do?" Wilhelm asked without hesitation.

"You are one of the senior researchers at NERV-Berlin," Soren said, "meaning you have considerable access. When the time comes and we need to move on the Third Branch, we will need your helping unlocking the doors, as it were."

"Move on?"

Soren nodded towards Katerose. "The Bundeswehr has three battalions earmarked for the operation. To keep bloodshed to a minimum, we need to be able to bypass NERV-Berlin's defenses, which requires compromising the MAGI, which is not an easy task."

"But if you have someone on the inside," Wilhelm began.

"Would still not be enough," Soren preempted him. "The MAGI is simply too powerful for you to sabotage without considerable support, support that we cannot guarantee will be available. If however the MAGI's computational resources were being devoted to a very difficult task, such as the attempted hacking of another MAGI, well, a window of vulnerability opens."

Wilhelm frowned. "Why would Berlin's MAGI be ordered to hack another MAGI?"

"To explain that, I would need to explain just what it is those in NERV's upper ranks hope to achieve," Soren said, setting aside his mostly empty plate and picking up the bottle of scotch next to him. "And what role they intend your daughter to play."

"Something tells me I'm going to want a glass in me as well before you do that," Wilhelm said dryly.

"Your intuition does not mislead," Soren said, pouring out three glasses and passing them on.

The other man glanced at the glass for a moment before downing it in one gulp. The burning was pleasantly distracting.

"Alright, lay it on me."

Tellingly, Soren refilled the tumbler before starting.

* * *

To Shinji's surprise Asuka was already getting ready to leave by the time he got up to make breakfast on Saturday.

"Going to Hikari's," the girl said.

"What about breakfast?" Shinji asked.

"I'll just grab something on the way. See ya!"

That did not sound like a bad idea, Shinji mused. And thus after putting on his own clothes the boy was out the door and headed for the subway. A train was pulling out just as he stepped down to the platform but the next one would be here within five minutes. Efficiency was a trademark of the Japanese subway system after all. Pulling out his cellphone Shinji fired off a brief message to Toji to let his friend he was on the way. Halfway across the city the receiving phone beeped, the noise lost as background at the cheerful cries and laughter of two girls having a good time with their older siblings at one of their homes.

The amusement park was on the edge of the city and as yet remained intact, a minor miracle considering some of the battles that had taken place. Still as he saw all of the families with children heading towards the gate Shinji was glad for it. They needed some place where they could find some joy in life after all. Just like a certain little girl he was supposed to help make smile today. Shinji headed for the ticket booth, where Toji said they would be waiting. Soon enough however not only the booth came into view as he caught sight of a certain red headed girl. A girl that obviously also saw him and was scowling. Shinji's footsteps slowed to a halt. Asuka sighed and walked over.

"So, who invited you, Hikari or the stooge?"

"Toji did," Shinji replied honestly.

"Something about his sister?"

The boy nodded.

Asuka sighed. "Figures. Hikari did the same to me."

Shinji frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Look around baka, do you see either Hikari or the jock, or their little sisters?"

Shinji did so. "Maybe they're just late?"

"They?"

"Well if they were both planning to come, it was probably meant to be a group thing."

Asuka snorted. "You got your ticket?"

"Yeah, Toji gave it to me yesterday."

"Hikari did the same for me," Asuka said. "It's pretty obvious we've been set up."

"Set up? For what?"

Asuka massaged her forehead. "I suppose obvious to some of us."

Shinji was by no means unintelligent and lack of social skills aside he had seen enough TV shows and read enough manga and light novels to make the necessary inferences. His readiness to accept said inferences were another matter entirely of course.

"But, why would they try to, get us together?" Shinji asked.

"Are you an idiot?" Asuka asked tiredly. "No, don't answer that, I want to retain some faith in your qualifications as an EVA pilot."

When Asuka got frustrated she tended to get defensive and snide, something Soren had more or less told Shinji during one of their cooking lessons after the German girl arrived. With that information in hand Shinji guessed that the girl was not necessarily angry at him, he was simply someone she could vent to. Or wait, was she angry at him? Frustrated? Because their friends had apparently tricked her, well, him as well, into what was more or less a date at the amusement park. Was Asuka annoyed because she was tricked, or because he was who she ended up with? Only one way to find out. Assuming he did not get his head bit off in the process.

"Umm, Asuka," Shinji began tentatively. "I'm, sorry if I'm, not someone you'd want to go to a place like this with. I'm not quite sure why the class rep and Toji thought they were doing, but here." The boy offered Asuka his ticket. "When you find someone you do want to come here with, you can invite them along."

Asuka looked down at the offered hand. She then looked up and met Shinji's eyes. She looked down again after a few seconds. Her hand suddenly shot out but instead of grabbing the ticket Asuka seized Shinji's arm and started dragging him along.

"Asuka!?"

"Baka, we're already here, no way am I wasting time on this commute again to come another day."

"But-"

"Are you really going to argue with me on this!?" the girl said incredulously without stopping.

As Shinji was pulled along his mind raced. He had offered to drop the matter, even to giving Asuka his ticket as a form of apology. One thing he did understand about the girl was that if she genuinely did not want to do something she would not do it and trying to twist her arm and forcing her would only make Asuka an implacable enemy. So if Asuka was willing to spend a day at the amusement park with him it meant either she wanted to, or she was at least not opposed to it. The boy's mind reeled at the implications. He came to a halt, causing Asuka to jerk back. The girl turned around and glared at him.

"What?"

"Asuka," Shinji said seriously. "I just want you to know, I would never try to impose some sort of obligation on you. So you don't need to do anything just because you feel you have to or are supposed to."

The girl blinked. Then she chuckled. Finally a scowl crossed her face. It was a rather strange sequence of expressions.

"Stop trying to make this harder than it is," she said. "We're here, we got free tickets to the park, and we're going to enjoy ourselves. Am I clear, Third?"

Under normal circumstances the reversion to Shinji's classification would have told the boy Asuka was genuinely unhappy with him. But there was no bite in the word, no irritation or frustration that he could hear. Asuka had simply used it for emphasis as she delivered her order. Emphasis, he could live with.

"Clear, Asuka," Shinji said with a slight smile.

The girl reciprocated, indicating Shinji had read her correctly. The two headed towards the gate. Asuka did not let go of his arm.

* * *

Gendo stood alone before the tombstone. It was an empty grave much like many of the others here, the entire site meant to commemorate those who lost their lives to Second Impact. It was a ridiculous notion, trying to build memorial gravestones for that many people. But before humanity gave up the task as it realized the magnitude of the devastation it faced many such cemeteries were erected and hiding one more marker in the masses was simple enough. Gendo regarded the name of the stone. Yui Ikari, the one person that ever truly, genuinely, understood him. The empathy she showed for a man like him was almost frightening and without her, he felt truly alone in the world. The feeling scared him, something he was willing to admit in the privacy of his own mind. That sense of loneliness was not helped by what Rei told him earlier today.

His son was not coming. Shinji did not consider him a father. That, was not terribly surprising, something Gendo admitted both privately and publicly. Ever since Yui's death Gendo had kept his son at a distance, showing no sign of affection or concern for the boy. Even now everyone assumed that the only thing Gendo cared about with respect to the boy was his ability to pilot. They were not entirely wrong, he did value Shinji for his destined role of awakening Unit 01. Achieving that was paramount over any other consideration, including any theoretical salvaging of his relationship with his son.

It was somewhat disconcerting the amount of control that was slipping away from him, much of it due to the machinations of SEELE's pawns. The conduct of Amanda Sommer and Soren Reimer was also somewhat confusing. Their actions suggested they strongly suspected if not outright knew how he intended to betray SEELE, yet if it was the latter the old men would have ordered his termination without hesitation. If on the other hand all they had was suspicions and hints, not actual proof, of his intents, then the council would leave him be so long as he showed results by defeating the Angels and advancing the other implements of instrumentality. SEELE always believed itself to be in control of the key pieces of the plan, overconfidence that Gendo had exploited from the beginning since maneuvering himself into command of NERV. The mistrust between them was great, but not great enough that SEELE considered him a liability.

Still, Sommer's actions were causing complications for him. Her attempts to wrest control of Rei away was running into limitations, true, but Shinji and Katsuragi were now fairly firmly in her camp. Akagi was also wavering recently and Shikinami was never truly under his control to begin with, notwithstanding his authority as NERV commander. Yet despite all of these setbacks certain factors were still in play, certain points still in his advantage. Shinji could still be manipulated to do what Gendo needed of the boy, that much was obvious based on the care with which Sommer was treating the boy. And the auditor had even been kind enough to provide the necessary levers to move the boy. Shinji would fight for those he considered family and friends, that much was clear enough even if Gendo himself was no longer considered part of the former. There were others though, Rei being prominent amongst them, that did fall within the above categories. And Shikinami herself was showing considerable promise.

Gendo turned and headed towards his VTOL. He had spent enough time reminiscing about the past, admitting to his self-doubts. There was till more work to be done, contingencies to plan and implement and fallbacks to put in place. The dummy plug project also needed to be kept on schedule after all.

* * *

The two pilots emerged from the roller coaster exit, one with a huge grin and the other looking somewhat haggard. Plenty of screaming had occurred during the ride itself, excitement on Asuka's part and sheer terror on Shinji's.

"That was great!" Asuka exclaimed. "We should go again!"

Shinji swallowed desperately searched for something to distract the redhead from actually following through with her proposal. Fortunately Asuka did it for him, or rather her stomach did as it growled.

"Oh, it's almost lunchtime," Shinji said, catching sight of the large clock hanging in the middle of the street. "Should we go get something to eat?"

Asuka regarded him skeptically but eventually seemed to decide to have mercy on the boy as she smiled.

"Then let's get to the food court," Asuka said, pointing at the sign indicating the direction they needed to go.

As it turned out Asuka was not the only person struck by the munchies at that point and finding a place without too long a line took a bit of walking around. Find a place to sit down and eat was even trickier, but eventually they found a table for two that had not been claimed.

"Phew!" Asuka said as she slumped down. "Ah, it's nice to get a load off the feet."

"You seem like you're enjoying yourself," Shinji said with a smile.

"Yeah, I suppose I am," Asuka said. "I think the last time I came to one of these was, after I graduated and got my diploma and Amanda insisted we go. Misato and Mari were along too."

"Was the place, different, from here?" Shinji asked.

A nod. "Europa-Park is a theme park and it has lots of different areas themed after various countries in Europe. There's a few based on fantasy and fairy tales as well."

"Oh, that sounds interesting."

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun," Asuka said. "We spent three days there in total and stayed at one of the hotels."

"So it's far from Berlin?"

"It's on the other side of the country," Asuka explained. "Right next to the border with France."

"I see." Shinji looked down at the hamburger. "How is the food in Europe?"

"Umm, it's usually heavier," Asuka said. "The main difference is probably we use creams and the like more, more dairy product derivatives. And meat. Japan on the other hand uses a lot of soy sauce. And fish."

"Fish doesn't count as meat?"

"Not the stringy stuff you call fish," Asuka said with a grin.

"Well technically fatty tuna is also called a fish here," Shinji retorted with a smile of his own.

"True enough," Asuka conceded, or so it at first seemed. "So does that mean you'll be using it whenever you make a fish dish?"

Shinji nearly choked on the bit of food he was in the midst of swallowing. "They're kind of expensive, Asuka."

"Hey, what's the use of our stipend if we don't live a little?"

We. The wording did not escape Shinji's attention.

"Well, when you bring me a fatty tuna, I'll be sure to make an appropriate dish from it."

The girl's smile somehow got wider. Uh oh, it looked like the challenge was accepted. Shinji did his best not to put his foot in his mouth for the rest of the meal. As they threw away their trash Asuka looked around eagerly.

"Alright, which ride should we go to next?"

"We should probably go for something more sedate," Shinji said. "We just ate after all, it'd be kind of bad if we ended up throwing up on a ride."

"Ugh, thanks for the image Third," Asuka said. "Still, you've got a point. Hmm, oh, let's do that one."

Without a second thought Asuka dashed towards a ride, hauling Shinji along by his arm. The boy hurried after, smiling despite himself. Asuka's enthusiasm was somewhat infectious and he felt a certain contentment seeing her so happy.

"Welcome, welcome! Oh, what a lovely couple you two make! Please, get in and enjoy your date!"

"No, we're not-"

A sharp jab of the elbow stopped Shinji from finishing.

"Thank you very much!" Asuka said in her talking-to-adult faux sweetness as she dragged Shinji into the cart and they rolled off.

"Asuka?" Shinji said questioningly as they entered the tunnel.

"It's easier to let people continue in their misconceptions rather than trying to correct them and explain why we're here together," the girl said.

"I see," Shinji said hesitantly.

"Don't get the wrong idea baka," Asuka said. "We're not dating. But I know you'll behave yourself so I don't mind if people make the assumption."

Shinji chuckled. "I guess I'm honored by your trust."

"As you should be," Asuka said with a grin.

The two settled back to enjoy the ride. It was a fairly sedate one, going through various rooms that displayed music from around the world. There was classical Japanese folk music, American jazz, then European orchestral.

"I wonder how Reimer-san is doing," Shinji said offhandedly.

"It's only been a couple of days," Asuka said with a sniff. "I'm sure the Maestro's doing fine."

Shinji looked at Asuka. The tone of annoyance was unusual considering the subject.

"Are you thinking about what happened when he left?"

Asuka looked back at the boy. "How do you know about that?"

"Misato-san told me," Shinji said. "Well, more like she told me about how Amanda-san got Kayabuki-san back."

That elicited a chuckle from the girl. "Now THAT was beautiful. Should teach the colonel from pulling another stunt like that."

"I wonder why she did it," Shinji said. "I mean, she couldn't have known Reimer-san that long, right?"

Asuka shook her head. "No, they met back in university. Apparently the colonel attended the same place as Misato and crossed paths with the Maestro and Amanda when they did their study abroad."

"Oh? I didn't know that."

"I didn't either until Amanda told me," the girl said. She then regarded Shinji again. "Hey Shinji. You don't have to answer this, but well, I've been wondering. Did you and, uh, Yamagishi-san, well, you know…"

That Asuka was actually referring to the other girl so formally was indicative of both a sensitivity and even respect for the other girl. It was also a sign of respect for Shinji himself.

"No, we, never did," Shinji said. "I, didn't want to push Mayumi and make her uncomfortable, so I let her set the pace."

Asuka nodded. "I can respect that. So, to you, a kiss means something."

"Of course."

"Oh? So confident. Well then, what does it mean then?"

Shinji had not been expected to be called to answer on the spot and spent several moments thinking. Asuka remained silent in the meanwhile, the only sound around the background of music and the barely audible cart.

"A promise," Shinji finally said. "A kiss is a promise."

Asuka said nothing, but when the two emerged from the ride she held onto not Shinji's arm but his hand. The boy did not let go. He had nearly forgotten just how warm the sensation was.

* * *

"Everyone seems to be in such a rush to get married," Ritsuko commented as the wedding broke up.

"There's a lot of pressure to find someone and start a family," Misato said, "what with the mission to repopulate the world and all."

"A rather foolish notion, seeing as we're barely supporting the population we have now," Ritsuko said.

"Yeah well try telling that to the old men in government," Misato said.

"Well one thing people have never accused them of is having a sense of imagination," Kaji said with a wiry smile.

"Even after the thrashing you gave them?" Misato asked.

"I am but one man," Kaji replied. "A great one, but still one. There's only so much even I can do."

Misato snorted and grabbed her purse. "Be right back, need to use the restroom."

As Misato walked off Kaji pulled something out of his pocket and presented it to Ritsuko.

"What's this?"

"A little souvenir from all my traveling. I thought you might enjoy it."

Ritsuko opened the bag and within it found a pin with a cat on it. She frowned.

"What were you doing in Kyoto?"

"Kyoto? I got that at Matsushiro."

The frown deepened. Ritsuko wanted to still consider the man a friend, someone she would be loathe to see come to harm. Yet with the way he kept poking his nose around he was liable to meet a very messy end, if not at the Commander's hand than by SEELE's.

"If you keep this up you'll get burned," Ritsuko said.

The smile on Kaji's face remained. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The doctor sighed. She had tried, but if the man refused to heed the warning there was nothing she could do. A tinge of regret flickered as Misato returned. As much as she might regret whatever happened to Kaji, Misato would be even more impacted. That was something she felt even guiltier about. She might not have been able to find that kind of happiness, but she could well imagine the pain of losing it.

* * *

A laptop and several books were laid out on the dining room table, a German dictionary and a grammar book amongst them. Shinji shifted back and forth between them, cross-referencing things he did not understand as he worked on the language exercises. Asuka was lounging on the other side, making herself available to answer any questions the boy could not figure out while flipping through a magazine. The third member of their little trio was absent today, Rei spending the day with the commander and not returning until tomorrow. The evening was for the most part quiet and peaceful, that quiet only interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

Asuka got up and walked over to answer, leaving Shinji to focus on his studies. When she opened the door her face lit up before falling.

""Yo," Kaji greeted as he held up a very groggy Misato.

"Let me guess, she drank too much," Asuka said.

"Yeah. Sorry about this, but mind helping me get her to her room?"

"Sure, sure," Asuka said, grabbing hold of the woman on the other side. "Shinji! Misato's back! Get her futon laid out!"

By the time they got to the woman's room Shinji was already ready and waiting. Kaji and Asuka laid Misato down gently before closing the door to let woman sleep off the night's festivities.

"Thanks," Kaji said. "Well, I need to get home myself, so see ya."

"You could just stay over," Asuka said with a pout.

Kaji chuckled. "Don't have a change of clothes with me and I need to be in to work early tomorrow."

The man gave Asuka a pat on the head.

"Good night you too."

Asuka suddenly sniffed and frowned. "Perfume."

Kaji, wise thanks to years of experience, knew immediately what the girl was talking about. He gave her a slight smile before making a hasty retreat.

"Asuka?" Shinji said as the door closed.

"It's nothing," the girl said with a sigh before slumping back into her chair and picking up the magazine. "You gonna finish those exercises?"

Shinji nodded but kept sneaking peeks at the girl. She looked sullen, perhaps even a bit irritated. At a loss of what he could do, Shinji simply plodded along through the work. By the end of the night he held a halting, simple conversation with Asuka in her native German. That seemed to cause the girl to perk up a bit. Shinji was glad that he was able to do that much at least.

* * *

Of the certainties in life only two could claim to be universal, death and taxes. As a UN auditor Amanda needed to keep her and Soren's finances in perfect order to avoid questions about her integrity and impartialness. It was all a massive pain in the ass and thankfully Soren was a competent accountant otherwise Amanda might well have strangled someone to vent her frustration with all the paperwork. She had to deal with enough of it at work after all.

Most of their finances were pretty straightforward, Amanda had a respectable salary and a variety of stipends for housing and transportation that she kept meticulous track of. Soren's income was a bit less regular as in addition to whichever orchestra he was contracted to for the moment he also might put in guest appearances that had their own payment terms. Even that however was relatively easy to sort through compared to their investment portfolio.

At last count the Reimer-Sommer household owned stocks in fifteen different companies spread out across the globe. The majority were biomedical in nature though there was a defense firm or two sprinkled in there along with a few IT related companies. The complicated part came from the sheer size of the percentages they owned of some of the companies.

One way that Lorenz had shown his affection for his favored granddaughter was to use her as a proxy for his own extended financial holdings. The money itself and the dividends the stocks provided were nice but relatively inconsequential when placed in the context of the wider SEELE network. The real value of these holdings was the control it offered over the companies themselves, control that SEELE used to direct the firms to pursue projects relevant to the Human Instrumentality Project. So long as Amanda and her husband used 'their' stock to ensure that that objective was not compromised, the dividends paid out was theirs to do with what they will.

For the most part Amanda had simply allowed the money to accrue and at this point she and Soren's public worth was probably approaching the b as in billion point in Deutsche marks. These days with the US dollar and the Deutsche mark at near parity that made the two very wealthy indeed. That kind of wealth raised more than a few eyebrows amongst the UN Inspectorate but Amanda's political backing and the fact that her independent wealth meant she was effectively immune to something as mundane as a bribe meant no one gave her any fuss over it.

From time to time however Amanda did dip into the raw reserve of cash she possessed, almost always to increase the percentage of privileged stock she owned in the same companies that formed the basis of her wealth. From the perspective of her grandfather she was simply solidifying SEELE's control over these firms and the resulting financial windfall from each transaction was simply adding to the overall war chest that funded Instrumentality. And while Kiel was not blind to the fact that the companies that his granddaughter was most active in investing in were responsible for a disproportionate number of new biomedical and biotechnological patents filed every year, that was taken more as a sign of the progress these companies were making in their respective projects than anything else.

All of this meant that Amanda's financial dealings were for all intents and purposes clean. She was obviously reinvesting in companies she had faith in and she paid the appropriate capital gains tax without trying to route her earnings through arcane loopholes to minimize her tax burden. Doing that was more likely to attract attention after all. One company however, one company really stood out. Morgenroete Incorporated was officially a contractor and outsourcing company, one that the UN called upon in many places around the world for logistics management and distribution of aid. It even had a security division that protected said distribution in locations where the rule of law was weak or nonexistent. The revenue these contracts brought in was substantial but for many years it was unclear just where the equally massive profits was being spent. Then five years ago Morgenroete began making large purchases of land in the United States, Germany, and Japan.

The US purchases were the largest thanks mostly to the fact that the US had the most real estate available. And whereas the German and Japanese purchases were for space in relatively mundane industrial and scientific research parks, assuming one could consider real estate in Tokyo-3 mundane, the American properties were effectively in the backend of nowhere, remote and away from any prying eyes. Now five years on all the sites were hives of activity. Cash flow was still of an irregular nature of course, though being the 108th associated entity with the Marduk Institute meant that when funding was needed there were plenty of sources to draw upon. What exactly the money was being used for was less clear to the people that moved it about, but they knew better than to ask too many questions. Being out of a job was the least of their worries if they were found to be too inquisitive.

When it came down to it, Amanda and Soren owned close to five percent of Morgenroete outright. Keeping all this under the radar was by no means a simple affair. The fewer questions asked about why so much money was being poured into what was ostensibly a dummy corporation originally intended for laundering funds for other SEELE operations the better.

Of course for one sufficiently determined digging up such information was possible. What they could find was still suitably vague and even if ownership interests could be traced back to Amanda and Soren that by itself held little meaning. For all anyone knew, Morgenroete might actually be a completely legitimate company that provided services to the UN. Ryoji Kaji, UN Chief Inspector and Special Agent of the Japanese Home Affairs Ministry, was not anyone. When he first discovered his friends' association with Morgenroete he felt his internal sense of conflict grow. Amanda and Soren were his friends and after having spent so much time with them in Germany he greatly respected their integrity and character.

It was however becoming increasingly apparent that Amanda knew far more than she had ever let on about the Evangelions, SEELE, and the Human Instrumentality Project. Kaji hated the thought of Amanda becoming an enemy and especially did not relish the idea of trying to take either her or Soren down. And so he continued to dig, hoping that he just might find something that would clear his friends from complicity in the greatest crime against humanity in history.

End of Chapter 28

There, Asuka and Shinji get set up on a date by Hikari. Y'all happy now? Ahem. The two of them still aren't in a 'relationship' per se yet, but they are feeling each other out. The point after all is to make them coming together actually natural. I do not want to fall into the trap of basically shoving them together without an in-story rationale.

I think I'm getting closer to the Rei I want to portray in this story. Perhaps it was just a matter of giving her more scenes.

Let's see, I think I got the Gendo that I wanted as well this chapter. The man is human after all and he is not without self-doubt. What makes him interesting is his ability to basically keep going despite said doubt. In that respect, I suppose he could be regarded as somewhat inhuman.

Well, it was always inferred that Amanda and Soren were rich. The only real question was how rich. And while I have not given exact numbers, I am providing a broad picture of their wealth and setting up a couple of things for the future.

I think people might have the wrong impression about 'Psycho Shinji.' He, doesn't really have any power himself and even within Unit 01 it would be pretty one-sided if it came down to an actual fight between him and Soren. Not least because Soren wouldn't let it get into a situation where Shinji could fight back. He'd go for the kill immediately, remove Shinji from the equation before going about taking apart the other score. And yes, I know what I implied, that Soren is more powerful than a berserk Unit 01. It'll make sense in context once all of you know what he is, on top of who he is.

This chapter was basically a retelling of episode 15 of the anime (with a bit of the end of episode 14), with various modifications of course and a few dropped scenes. You can assume they occur in the background. The only one I am a bit ambivalent about leaving out is the Misato being drunk and spilling her guts, figuratively and literally, to Kaji. That was a pretty important scene in the anime and one that I probably should have presented my interpretation of, or rather the variant that resulted in all of the manipulation by the sidesteppers, but I just can't work up the will to add more to this chapter. It's already nearly nine thousand words and I want to move the story on. Enjoy the WAFF while it lasts. We have two, maybe three more chapters before things get messy.

Oh and in case there are any EVA fans that don't know what Toji shouted when he hit Shinji, it's a kendo cry when targeting the head.

Anyway, drop me a line about what you think.


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Erbschaft

"Dr. Langley."

The auburn haired woman looked up. "Ah, Amanda. What brings you down to the cages?"

"Running errands," the other woman said. "Here, the latest diagnostic for the neural interface."

Kyoko smiled as she accepted the papers. "You didn't need to run all the way down here to give me these, dear."

"It was no bother," Amanda assured the older woman. She looked up at the fleshy head. "So tomorrow's the big day."

"Indeed," Kyoko said. "And there is a mountain of work to be done before we're ready."

Amanda frowned as she looked at the woman. "Doctor, may I be frank?"

"Why me?" Kyoko preempted the younger woman and smiled. "That's what you were going to ask, right?"

Amanda nodded. "You know what happened to Dr. Ikari last year in Japan. Is this, second contact experiment really necessary?"

Kyoko's expression hardened. "Amanda. You of all people should know that someone has to perform the contact experiment."

The implied meaning was clear enough. Kyoko knew that Amanda was Lorenz's granddaughter and thus privy to many of the secrets behind the EVAs. Thus she knew that upon their creation an EVA was an empty vessel, a vessel that needed a soul. And the only way to provide a soul was via the contact experiment.

"What about your daughter?" Amanda asked.

The expression somehow turned even harder. "I am doing this for Asuka. This is the best way to assure my daughter a place in Instrumentality. This will cause her to suffer, but she will survive, Asuka's a strong girl. And Wilhelm will be there for her, just as she will be there for him."

It pained Amanda to keep so many secrets from the woman, the woman she had grown to respect as not just an ideal but as an actual person. Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami's achievements were manifold and without her the conceptual foundations laid out by Yui Ikari would have never been forged into the Evangelions. Then there was the affection she showered upon her daughter. No one who met the girl could deny that Asuka was part of a loving family and that the girl was a genuine delight to have around. The Langley-Shikinami family was generally considered an almost picturesque example of a family by the staff of GEHIRN here in Berlin. It twisted Amanda's heart to know that she would be witnessing the near-complete breakdown of those bonds.

"And I can count on you to look after Asuka too, no?" Kyoko said, a slight smile appearing.

"Of course," Amanda blurted out immediately.

"Then I can do this," Kyoko said. "I will not pretend that leaving Wilhelm or Asuka behind will be easy, but I must. For her, no, their future, I will do anything."

It was often said that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. Amanda forced herself to keep her mouth shut. It was the only way she could stop herself from revealing everything to Kyoko.

* * *

"We have a problem."

At this hour Amanda should have been preparing for bed. Instead she was stuck at NERV waiting for a certain someone to trespass.

"A problem?" Soren responded even as outwardly he was watching Unit 05 be loaded onto the massive EVA carrier.

"Ritsuko still hasn't cleared Shinji for active duty yet, it looks like it's both caution on her part and Ikari intentionally stalling for some reason. At this rate Leliel will show up before Shinji's back on duty."

"So?" Madison said, sounding utterly unconcerned. "We'll be there long before it shows up which will give you Units 00, 02, and 05 to engage the Angel. That ought to be enough."

Amanda growled. "Have you forgotten about this particular Angel's abilities, Madison?"

"It's inverted and doesn't actually exist in normal space," the other woman responded.

"Right, which makes killing it a tad difficult," Amanda said. "We were going to rely on Unit 01 going berserk to deal with it, but if 01's not deployed, that plan goes out the window. I can't press for Shinji to be put back on active duty without looking too suspicious."

The others fell silent as they considered the issue.

"The Fraulein," Soren finally said.

Amanda blinked. "What?"

"We know that Asuka is capable of achieving a one hundred percent synchro rate with Unit 02. That should allow her to awaken her EVA's power to tear free of Leliel's pocket dimension."

"Except we have no precedent for it going berserk without any electricity from either its battery or the tether," Amanda countered.

"The solution to that is obvious," Soren said. "Have the Fraulein destroy the Angel before her batteries run out."

Madison burst out laughing, both mentally and physically, causing quite a few people around to give the woman curious looks. Then again the Bundeswehr colonel was known for her eccentricity and many others simply took this latest outburst in stride.

"Four-eyes, stop laughing," Amanda snapped. "Soren, are you bloody serious?"

"Quite," Soren replied in his usual deadpan manner.

"But, but how is she supposed to do that!?"

"The same way Unit 01 did," the German man replied. "We know that Leliel was killed by Unit 01 eroding its AT-field and disrupting the negative-energy balance within its internal body. If the Fraulein can raise her synchronization high enough, Unit 02's AT-field should be sufficiently powerful to erode Leliel's."

"That is a lot of qualifiers there," Amanda said sullenly.

"Encouraging the Fraulein to, expand her horizons, is in your hands."

"Alright, now I know you're being snarky," Amanda growled.

"Oh c'mon princess, it shouldn't be that hard to do," Madison said. "Asuka's already been instinctively reaching out to the EVA. If you give her one small push, she'll get there on her own."

"Asuka has a very rational mindset," Amanda countered. "It's not as simple as claiming 'your mother's spirit is in Unit 02 so have faith.' Saying that to her is liable to make her get suspicious."

"Perhaps," Soren allowed. "Unfortunate that I am out of position, she is more likely to accept a poetic statement from me than you. You will have to chance it."

"Oh thanks a lot," Amanda bit out.

"All you need is a pretext to bring up her mother," Soren said. "A pretext, which I may be able to provide."

"Oh?" Amanda leapt at the potential offer.

"The Guarneri in my possession. Give it to her."

Both Amanda and Madison sucked in their breath, the former only mentally while the latter again did it physically.

"I thought we were going to wait, use it to help lift her spirits after Arael," Amanda said.

"That will probably be unnecessary," Soren said. "I doubt Herr Ikari would be so callous as to leave her be, whatever abuse she heaps upon him."

A brief pause passed before Amanda nodded in concession.

"And besides, the violin is not mine. I am only keeping it in trust after all."

Amanda sighed. "That'll provide me with the pretext, but she's going to wonder why you aren't the one giving, well, returning it to her."

"Tell her that it is in preparation for my last lesson to her," Soren said. "Provide her with a copy of the Concerto for Two Violins, all three movements, and instruct her to memorize both the first and second violin parts."

"Tough love," Madison commented randomly.

"Good enough for our purposes," Amanda said. "I'll get to it."

Her computer beeped back in the physical world.

"Just as soon as I deal with some guests."

Soren felt his wife withdraw and he shifted his own attention back to the bustling around him. A sealed black box was being loaded into the jet he would be taking to the Second Branch and he kept a very close eye on it to make sure the fragment did not become active again. The last thing he needed was to get caught up in another brawl in the middle of the base.

"Herr Reimer!" a cheerful voice called.

Soren looked about to see Mari waving enthusiastically at him. The man returned with a single one of his own but that seemed to satisfy the girl as she beamed a wide smile. The girl was, interesting. She tended to be enthusiastic and very honest with herself, a stark contrast to the other pilots. In fact that openness had played its own role in breaking through Asuka's demeanor. The two girls were friends, of sorts, and both would willing stick out their neck for the other. There was a trust between them, a trust built up from hundreds of hours running combat simulations together. The two understood that if they did not watch each other's backs in a fight their chances for survival, nevermind victory, dropped dramatically. Then there was the constant snarking back and forth as they tested each other's wits. It was all in good fun and before Asuka's departure there was a betting pool going on about who would win the next verbal contest the girls got into. Soren was fairly certain that pool would start up soon enough in Tokyo-3, if only because of the woman now waving at him as enthusiastically as the younger girl.

Madison Ingrid Metz was, eccentric, to say the least. Her rise to colonel within the Bundeswehr was genuine however, which belayed the competence the woman possessed that allowed her superiors to overlook her quirks. She was a superb tactician and a not half-bad strategist, even if her enthusiasm for battle was more than a little unsettling from certain perspectives. In point of fact however Madison and Soren were quite alike. Both would go to hell and back for their family and friends and both were utterly, utterly ruthless when dealing with an enemy. For that reason if nothing else Soren knew he could trust the woman to watch over the pilots while he was busy in America. It was also why he waved back as well, eliciting another beaming smile from someone of the opposite gender. More than a few dirty looks came his way.

"Herr Oberst," one of Soren's few direct subordinates said as he saluted. "We are ready to depart."

Soren nodded and followed the man towards the stairs leading up to the plane. He wondered idly how Amanda was doing handling Kaji and Misato down in Terminal Dogma.

* * *

The gun that got jammed into the back of his head was not unexpected.

"Kaji."

"Yo Katsuragi," the man said. "Fancy meeting you down here."

"This is no laughing matter," the woman said. "You're not supposed to have clearance to get down here."

"Neither are you," the man pointed out.

"I'm NERV's operations director," Misato replied. "I go wherever my job needs me to go."

"And I'm a UN inspector," Kaji said. "I do much the same."

"So? What exactly are you hoping to inspect down here?"

Kaji smirked. "Tell me, Katsuragi, have you ever wondered what skeletons NERV may have in its closet?"

The barrel was still pressed against his head but Kaji could feel a slight tremor.

"I know that there are quite a few," she finally responded.

"Interesting, you say you know? Amanda's doing?"

The silence said it all. Kaji chuckled.

"I sometimes wonder what game she's playing at," he said. "She keeps dropping crumbs and tidbits, leaving a trail for others to follow. Does she actually want us to know the truth, or is she trying to distract us?"

"It's actually the other way around," a voice said behind the two. "You're the distraction, not the one being distracted, Kaji."

Misato spun around. "Amanda?"

"Yo," Kaji said more casually. "Let me guess, you have a filter that checks for usage of this card?"

"But of course. How else am I supposed to know how much progress you're making in your investigation?"

Misato looked at her friend worriedly. "What's going on here, Amanda?"

"What I told you before," Amanda replied. "Ryoji's been very helpful in attracting SEELE's attention, keeping them distracted. If he digs much further, they may well order a hit on him."

The other woman's eyes widened.

"Oh don't worry," Amanda said. "Soren or Aramaki would almost certainly be the ones given the order, and both of them know how to make a man disappear without actually killing him."

Kaji chuckled. "I'm humbled that you would go to such lengths for me. I suppose you think you'll have a use for me afterward?"

Amanda cracked a smile. "We're friends, Ryoji. My grandfather might see you as a threat, but the world does not start or end with him."

The smirk on Kaji's own face disappeared as he held Amanda in a level gaze. "I'd really like to believe that, Amanda. After knowing each other so long, I want to continue believing that you and Soren are good, honest people. But there are things that make me question that. Things like this."

Kaji slid the ID card through the reader and the door opened. Misato spun back around, gun halfway up when she froze at the sight before her. The woman's face paled to almost match the massive white giant before them. It hung on a massive orange cross, the two hands bolted to the sides with massive nails. Below its torso twitched bulbs of flesh, spilling liquid that formed a like beneath it. Buried in its chest was an oddly shaped two-pronged spear.

"An Adam!?" she gasped.

"Indeed," Kaji said as he gazed at the creature. "One of the initiators of Second Impact, the First Angels."

"Incorrect."

Kaji looked back at Amanda in surprise, a motion matched by Misato.

"What you see before you is not an Adam," Amanda said. "It is Lilith, the Second Angel."

Kaji frowned. "Lilith?"

"I see you've still a ways to go," Amanda said as she walked over to the door and commanded it shut. "And now you know another thing that SEELE would kill you for."

Kaji regarded the woman. "What's your game, Amanda?"

"Something well beyond child's play, Herr Kaji," Amanda said more formally. "The only question is, are you up to it? Or are the stakes for your vaunted truth too high?"

Without waiting for a response Amanda turned and walked back down the corridor. Misato gave Kaji a worried look.

"Be careful, Kaji," she said. "There're, things going on that are a lot bigger than you think."

Kaji blinked. "She brought you in."

Misato grimaced but made no effort to deny it. It would not have worked anyway. Kaji however was now smiling.

"Well, I guess that settles one question."

"What?"

"Whether I can trust Amanda or Soren. If you've placed your faith in them, then I'll put my faith in you."

For some reason Misato felt her cheeks flush. She did not know why she was feeling embarrassed, but the way Kaji had expressed himself stirred something in her. Not knowing what to say in response Misato followed Amanda and headed for the elevator. She could feel Kaji's gaze from behind her. The churning of her stomach went on for some time.

"I think you owe me an explanation," Misato said as she stormed into Amanda's office.

The other woman held up a finger to her mouth, shushing Misato even as she reached under her desk. The buzz that signaled the scrambler turning on rippled over Misato's skin as Amanda nodded.

"Have a seat. This could take a while."

Misato did so and waited for Amanda to continue.

"Remember SEELE's plan about uniting all human consciousness?"

The woman nodded.

"Lilith is the keystone to that plan."

Misato frowned. "How?"

"You're going to have to take what I tell you next on faith for the time being, since proving it to you would take longer than either of us have."

Only after Amanda got another nod, a very reluctant one, did she continue.

"Lilith is humanity's progenitor."

Misato blinked. She blinked again. "What."

"Actually it would be more correct to call it the progenitor of all non-Angelic life on Earth," Amanda clarified. "Anyway, because all human life derives from Lilith, it can act as a focal point for reuniting all humans once again."

"Wait, back up, what is this about Lilith being humanity's, progenitor?"

Amanda sighed. "I said you needed to take my word for it and I meant it. Look, there's a lot of background information that we could spend hours going over and you'd still not have a complete picture."

"So we spend those hours," Misato said. "This is obviously important, and seeing as you felt I could be trusted and let into your Major-General's little conspiracy, I expect answers."

Amanda sighed again, this one in more resigned than anything else. "Fine, fine. The basic point is that all life on Earth was seeded, by a species considerably more powerful than either us or the Angels. The Seeds of Life they created came in two varieties, one containing a being that possessed the Fruit of Life and the other a being that possessed the Fruit of Knowledge. The former grants great power, you can think of the S2 organ the Angels possess as the embodiment of that power, while the latter grants great knowledge, our ability to master the sciences and change our environment to suit us instead of having to adapt ourselves to suit it."

"So that's where those terms came from," Misato mused. "I always thought someone was being overly dramatic with the biblical references."

"Who says they're not? Anyway, what data we've salvaged indicats that no world was supposed to be seeded by more than one Seed, either one with Life or Knowledge. An accident however seems to have occurred in Earth's case wherein we received two Seeds, one of each. The one bearing Knowledge arrived later and we're pretty sure its impact with Earth is what created the moon."

A hiss escaped Misato, eliciting a slight smile from the German woman.

"This impact sent the being bearing Life into a sort of dormancy," Amanda continued, "allowing the being that possessed Knowledge to establish and ecosystem based on its, pattern, so to speak. The end result is all terrestrial life as you know it, including mankind."

"And this being, is Lilith?"

Amanda nodded. "And we sit within the Black Moon that bore it to Earth."

Another very sharp intake of breath.

"Damn."

"Oh it gets better," Amanda said. "The Seeds brought with them not just Adam and Lilith, they also brought the means of Instrumentality, both the tools and the instructions. From the data SEELE has gleaned it's readily apparent that the First Ancestral Race possessed the gifts of both Life and Knowledge and were thus supremely powerful beings, or perhaps even gods, from our perspective. The old men aspire to that godhood, to complement the Knowledge that we humans, that we Lilim, possess, with the Life that the Angels possess. Or I suppose I should say other Angels, since as the descendants of Lilith we are of the same heritage as those descended from Adam."

Misato's eyes lost their focus as they absorbed these revelations. They then sharpened as something came into focus.

"Wait, Adam? Singular?"

"Oh right, you don't know about Adam either," Amanda said, eliciting an annoyed look from her friend. "Okay, let's clear that up to. You know how when we talk about Second Impact, we always say the Adams, plural, initiated it?"

A nod. "Four giants of light."

"Well, there were four giants, but they can all be considered extensions of a singular being, Adam. All of the Angels we have thus far fought are progenies of Adam. Immature progeny at that, if what we believe we know about them is true."

"Immature," Misato said flatly. "One of them nearly vaporized Unit 01. And another tried to do the same to Tokyo-3."

"Imagine the power they would possess if they had hit us when in their, well, their adolescent stage."

"So why don't they wait? Why don't they just wait until they become so powerful that we'd have no chance of stopping them?"

"Because, believe it or not, our lethality is increasing faster than theirs. Or did you not notice the fact that we got fully functioning EVAs built in basically fourteen years, we've stepped up from nuclear to antimatter weaponry, and there are other weapons programs in the works that would make what we currently have look like toys. Imagine, if the Angels had waited only a few more months, a year at most, we would have had six Evangelions ready right at the beginning of the war. As it is we're about to add a fourth one to the mix with two more on their way."

Misato looked at Amanda. "That, is more than a bit scary."

Amanda snorted. "Mankind's capacity for destruction is both our salvation and a greater threat than the Angels could ever be. But anyway, that is beside the point. As I said before, since Lilith is the source of all non-Angelic life on Earth, it can also serve as the focal point for uniting all life. This is why NERV-HQ was built here, why the fortress city of Tokyo-3 was erected, to protect Lilith."

"Is it also why the Angels keep coming here?" Misato asked. "They keep attacking Tokyo-3 instead of hitting anywhere else in the world. Well, besides Sahaquiel that is." A frown. "And Gaghiel."

Amanda flicked her hand. "Ignore those two, there were other circumstances at work there. And yes, we are fairly certain that they are coming after Lilith."

"Do you know why?"

The German woman shrugged. "There's a lot of speculation. Some think that they want to achieve their own sort of ascension by claiming the Fruit of Knowledge that Lilith holds. Others think they're just out to screw us. Seeing as the lack of, meaningful, communication with the Angels, your guess is as good as mine."

Misato pursed her lips. "Fair enough. So, why did this, First Ancestral Race, send out these Seeds in the first place?"

Another shrug.

"Alright, so this Lilith thing. Is it technically an Angel?"

"Well, we have labeled it the Second Angel, though that may be more a matter of convenience than anything else," Amanda said.

"But you said that it bore the Fruit of Knowledge, not Life. Does that mean it doesn't have an S2 organ?"

Amanda raised an eyebrow. That was a remarkably astute observation on Misato's part. The woman's mind might have worked in unpredictable ways but sometimes she arrived at conclusions and discerned patterns much faster for it.

"No, it doesn't," Amanda confirmed.

"Then, where does it get energy from?"

"We're not entirely sure," Amanda admitted.

"Uh, so what's stopping it from tearing us a new one?"

"That giant spear stuck in its chest?" Amanda reminded her friend. "It's called the Longinus Security Device and basically keeps beings like the Angels dormant."

"I see." Misato slumped down into her chair. She straightened however before next speaking.

"So, were you telling the truth when you said he'd keep Kaji alive?" Hard, determined eyes peered out at Amanda as the question was asked.

"You have my word that we will do everything to keep him safe," Amanda said, meeting those eyes. She smiled slightly. "Shinji needs a real man for a father after all.

Misato held that gaze. A sigh of relief finally escaped her even as she flushed slightly.

"Thanks," she said softly.

Amanda nodded. Now she just needed to make sure she could keep the promise. Her grandfather was certainly not going to make it easy.

* * *

"Shinji!" Kensuke called, grabbing his friend by the shoulder. The boy stared at him in confusion. "Please! I need a favor!"

Shinji smiled ruefully. "The last time I did someone a favor…"

"Are you really going to complain about that?" Kensuke countered.

"Well, I guess not…"

"Anyway, Unit 05 is arriving today, right? Please! Take me there to see it!"

Shinji frowned. "How did you-wait, no, don't tell me, it's probably better I don't know how you keep digging this stuff up."

A glint of light flashed over the boy's glasses as he adjusted them. "I have my sources, my man."

Shinji sighed. "I can't make any promises. I'll ask Misato-san, but if she says no, that's that."

"I'm sure she'll go for it," Kensuke said. "She brought us along to see Unit 02 after all!"

Shinji refrained from reminding his friend that he and Toji had been brought along as decoys.

Several hours later after school not only Kensuke but also Toji, Hikari, Asuka, Rei, Canon, Tatsumiya, and quite a few other kids their age in slightly varying school uniforms were at the regimental base airfield. Even Shinn was there, though the stiffness with which he walked indicated his ribs were still mending. Shinji and the others had already heard about just why the boy had yet to recover and while his attack on Mana was not quite forgiven, they at least treated him courteously.

Kensuke on the other hand was thoroughly focused on the discovery that the 'dorm' Canon and the others kept referring to was actually the residential blocks on the base. The boy would have still been bouncing theories about why this was the case off of his friends and classmates had Hikari not put her foot down and ordered him to zip his mouth. When Kensuke looked about ready to protest the class rep had glanced sideways at Asuka, prompting the boy to clam up and stay quiet since. Whatever the girl was holding over his friend's head it must have been something impressive, though Shinji was not quite sure how Asuka was involved.

Those thoughts were quickly brushed aside as Amanda and Misato arrived.

"Yo!" Asuka greeted. "So how much longer are we going to have to wait?"

"Hold your horses Asuka," Misato said with a smile. "They'll be here soon enough."

Kensuke bowed. "Thank you very much for this opportunity, Colonel Katsuragi."

Misato chuckled. "No problem. Any friend of Shinji's is welcome to tag along. Though don't expect too much, once the EVA gets here it goes straight onto the rail network and to Central Dogma."

Any further words soon had to compete with the growing scream of engines. The massive flying wing cast an ever growing shadow as it descended. No one said much of anything as they watched it land, though Kensuke did break his silence to gush about the plane's curves. Whether anyone heard him above the roar of the engines, no one bothered responding. Technicians and workers rushed out and a massive truck rolled onto the runway toward the rear of the EVA carrier. Amanda and Misato moved to join them, shouting out orders through their headsets.

From the side a hatch popped open and several people descended, the woman in the lead in the formal gray of the Bundeswehr Heer and the girl right after her in a pink plugsuit with white trim. As she caught sight of the group a huge grin appeared on her face and she rushed over with a wave.

"Yo princess!" the girl said, "long time no see!"

Instinctively everyone knew just who the girl was addressing. Asuka's smirk only confirmed it.

"Took you long enough to get here four-eyes. I thought you were planning on sitting out this entire war."

The girl laughed brightly before sweeping her gaze across the others.

"So, you must be the famous Third Child," Mari said, walking up to the boy and leaning in.

Shinji for his part bent back a bit though tried not to look like he was cringing. And then Mari's nose twitced as she sniffed him. She actually sniffed him. Shinji's composure was rapidly crumbling.

"You smell of LCL," the girl said, still grinning. "Tis a nice smell."

"Mari!" Asuka snapped. "Stop being such a perv!"

The outcry elicited another burst of laughter from the girl as she pulled back.

"Feeling a mite territorial, Asuka?" Mari asked.

There was a noticeable distancing of bodies away from the redhead by all the other kids present. That was likely wise seeing as the complexion of her face was starting to mirror her hair color.

"I see you're still chipper Mari," Amanda said as she walked over, preempting any potential explosion.

"Yo Amanda," Mari greeted with an upheld hand. "Always."

"I suppose some introductions are in order," the woman said. "Everyone, this is Mari Illustrious Makinami, the Fourth Child and pilot of Unit 05. She will also be transferring to the First Municipal Middle School, so watch out for her."

"A pleasure to meet you," Hikar said with a slight bow and smile. "I am Horaki Hikari, the representative for class 2-A. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask me."

"Likewise," Mari said.

Introductions went around to also include the Trident trainees and even Shinn managed a curt but polite greeting. These were just wrapping up when the woman that had preceded Mari out the plane walked over.

"Oberst," Asuka greeted politely.

The German woman, another brunette like Amanda, smiled. "Asuka. Been a while. How you been?"

"Quite well, and yourself?" Asuka responded.

"Same old, same old, duty calls and whatnot. And keeping Mari here under control of course."

That elicited snickers from both the girl in question and Asuka herself.

"But where are my manners," the uniformed woman said. "I am Oberst Madison Ingrid Metz of the Bundeswehr on special assignment to NERV."

"Madison will be acting as a tactical advisor and will also look after all of the equipment brought over to support Unit 05," Amanda explained.

"Equipment?" Asuka asked, peeking around the colonel and Mari. "What equipment?"

"Most of it's been arriving by ship over the past week or so," Amanda said. "You notice all of the areas by the cages sealed off?"

The girl nodded.

"We're upgrading the deployment system and fixing up wear and tear and a lot of that equipment is coming from Germany." Amanda looked about. "Anyway, since everyone is here let's get going."

"Going? Where to?" Asuka asked.

"Well now that Mari is here, I thought we'd welcome her with a nice dinner," Amanda said even as she looked at Shinji instead of the girl. "And this time I had enough warning to get ahold of some fugu."

Shinji smiled sheepishly. "Thank you very much, Amanda-san."

The auditor smiled before looking over at the other kids, or rather those that had not dispersed. "Your friends are invited as well."

"Thank you very much for the invitation, but I'll have to decline," Hikari said with a bow. "I need to get home to take care of my sister."

"Yeah, me too," Toji said, bowing as well.

"Well I'm fre-"

A quick lunge of the arm caught Kensuke before he could finish and Toji dragged his protesting friend away. Amanda chuckled and looked over at the two other girls still standing about.

"Well Canon, Mana?"

"I think we'll excuse ourselves as well," Tatsumiya said with a smile. "The other trainees might, take issue with us getting invited to two nice dinners in a row without them, even if we brought leftovers."

"Fair enough," Amanda said with a chuckle and nodded as the two bowed before withdrawing. "Alright, we all ready to go?"

"Aren't you two needed to help coordinate the unloading?" Asuka asked the two adults present.

"Of course not," Madison said cheerfully. "All my paperwork is already filed and I have very competent subordinates to handle any issues that crop up. Why else would I spend twelve hours before departure making sure all my i's are dotted and t's crossed?"

Asuka chuckled. She should have expected that from the colonel. Even back in Berlin the woman had an uncanny ability to get out of work she did not want to do, but any work that she needed to do was dealt with promptly and efficiently.

"Oh, by the way," Madison said, digging into her duffel bag and pulling out a black hat. She reached over and put it on Asuka's head. "A souvenir from Berlin."

The others stared at the hat, a black felt cap with two triangles poking out of the top that created the distinct impression of cat ears. Asuka caught the look of almost glee on Mari's face and smiled ruefully.

"Thank you oberst," she said.

"No problem," Madison said.

"Me next!" Mari cut in, digging into the duffel and pulling out another seemingly identical hat. Instead of putting it on herself however she walked over to Amanda and presented it to her. "Congratulations on your promotion, ma'am!"

Amanda looked down at the hat. She then looked up at Mari. And then Madison. Finally back to the hat. With a resigned sigh and smile she took it.

"You two planned this, didn't you?"

"But of course," Madison admitted without reservation. "Mari, go get changed. Then we can head to the dinner party."

"Roger!"

Half an hour later the pilots, now numbered four, and two adults were at the Reimer-Sommer residence. Without Soren around quite a few dishes needed to still be prepared, which saw all of the pilots and even Madison drafted to help in the kitchen. While Shinji, Rei, and Mari did not seem to terribly mind, Asuka seemed a bit miffed that the promise of food required effort. Not that she openly annunciated this, but everyone here knew the girl enough to see through her mild sulking. Either way once the food was on the dinner table however her mood brightened accordingly.

"Your apartment has been set up and your stuff moved in," Amanda said to Mari as they ate. "You'll have the place to yourself until Maria gets here, but I'm sure you'll be spending lots of time in Misato's apartment with the others."

"Fine by me," Mari said.

"Oh yes, with all of the EVAs we now have, we'll be doing a bit of more formal unit organization," Amanda said. "The idea is to split the EVAs into two 3-unit squads with Units 00, 01, and 02 forming one squad and Units 03, 04, and 05 the other. Each will be led by a squad leader, and yes you can stop smiling Asuka, you're one of them."

The girl's grin only widened at the confirmation.

"And who's in charge of me?" Mari asked.

"Provisionally we're thinking of having Maria lead your squad," Amanda said, amused that the girl's question implicitly made clear she was not expecting a promotion. "In the meantime you'll be running through the simulations as part of Asuka's squad."

The bespectacled girl looked over at Asuka. "Hear that princess? Now you have official clearance to order me around."

Asuka stuck out her tongue. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, four-eyes."

"Perish the thought."

The girl sniffed. "Good."

"So you and Asuka have known each other for a long time, Makinami-san?" Shinji asked.

"Just call me Mari," the pigtailed girl said with a smile. "Yeah, we started training as pilots at about the same time. Back then she was really gloomy and sulky."

"And you were an overenthusiastic and sugar-high brat," Asuka countered, though her tone was laid back.

"Nowadays she's just snarky and opinionated," Mari flashed a smile.

"Right back at ya."

The grin the two girls exchanged was a mixture of friendly competitiveness. If nothing else they seemed very comfortable around each other. Something told Shinji having Mari attend school with them would be most interesting. And entertaining.

The evening soon drew to a close, Shinji very much enjoying the fugu dishes Amanda had arranged. Mari and Madison likewise dug in while Asuka gave the fish dishes one suspicious sniff before sticking with the red meat. That was the girl's loss as far as Shinji was concerned. Madison offered to drop off all the pilots on the way back to the base where she was staying but as they prepared to leave Asuka found herself called over to another room.

"What is it?" the girl asked curiously.

Amanda pulled the violin case out and laid it on the desk. "Do you know what this is?"

Asuka's eyes narrowed. "The Maestro's violin. What of it?"

Amanda opened the case and Asuka sucked in her breath.

"Just the Maestro's violin?" Amanda said with a chuckle.

Asuka said nothing for a few moments before shaking his head.

"It's his Guarneri," the girl said in a hushed tone.

"Not anymore," Amanda said as she turned to face the girl. "It's yours now. Or rather, he's returning it to you."

The girl stared at the Amanda. She then gazed at the violin. Finally she looked back at the woman.

"What."

"Do you know how Soren got this violin?"

Asuka shook her head.

"It was a, loan, from a woman that was not a musician and thus did not have a personal need for the instrument. After her death, he was allowed to keep it."

The girl's eyes were now wide open as she gazed at the older woman.

"Mama, owned that violin?"

Amanda nodded. "Soren always intended to return it to you when he felt you were ready. Well, now is that time."

Asuka stared at Amanda for several moments before speaking. "Why."

"Why now?"

A nod.

From a folder Amanda pulled out a thin book and presented it to Asuka. "He asked me to give you this and tell you to memorize it, both violin parts and all three movements."

Asuka looked at the title on the front. "Doppelkonzert für zwei Violinen. This is the Bach Double."

"He said that upon his return, he would see if you can do this violin justice. And reclaim your heritage."

The girl's grip on the book tightened. She nodded firmly.

"I will be worthy."

Amanda smiled gently and placed both hands on the girl's shoulder.

"I spoke with your mother, the day before the contact experiment."

Asuka stiffened but the firm yet gentle grip of Amanda's hands kept her in place.

"She said that she wanted to make sure you would be safe, that you would have the opportunity to become whatever you wanted. And she believed that the EVA she was working on could give you both that safety and opportunity."

The girl felt her knees weaken and this time was glad Amanda's grip was holding onto her.

"Shinji sometimes mentions that he feels warm and safe inside the EVA, as if he's in the embrace of his mother. I don't know how metaphorical he is being, but, I'd like to think that some part of your mothers recognizes when you're in there. And that that part will do everything in her power to keep you safe, if you have faith in her."

Asuka's mind was racing, trying to recall if she ever felt this warmth Amanda was describing from any of the tests or battles. Frustratingly she was coming up blank. And then, a brief flash of memory. Months ago during the first time she ever took Unit 02 into combat, when she insisted Shinji come along so that she could show off, there was a moment. It had lasted mere seconds but afterward she learned that both she and Shinji had achieved a 100% synchronization with Unit 02. And in that moment, she remembered a gentle touch and warmth that she had nearly forgotten. The touch that came from being cradled in her mother's arms.

The tears came unbidden but Asuka could not hold them back. She fell against Amanda's chest, letting the woman hold her as she cried. It was not the same, Amanda was not her mother, but right now the sensation was close enough as Asuka used it to cling to that singular moment that she had nearly forgotten.

* * *

"Colonel, there is a secure call from Geneva for you."

Soren opened his eyes and looked up at the flight attendant standing over him.

"Who is it from?"

"The Secretary-General, sir."

Soren nodded. "Put her own."

By the time the display in front of him lit up he had straightened and smoothed out his suit.

"Madam Secretary-General," Soren greeted politely with a nod.

"Colonel Reimer," the blond middle age woman returned with a smile. "I hope your flight has been comfortable thus far?"

The smile appeared perfectly genuine but Soren was not fooled in the least. Madeline Vincennes was the daughter of Albert Vincennes, the American representative on the Committee for Human Instrumentality and SEELE member, and aunt to one Maria Vincennes, the Fifth Child and pilot EVA Unit 04. That put the woman within the same circle as Amanda and even Soren himself in SEELE's network of agents and intermediaries. This also made her one of the people on the summary execution list the collective had compiled for when it moved to decapitate SEELE. The likelihood of this being a social call was more or less nonexistent.

"Fine enough ma'am, thank you." Soren paused just long enough to be polite. "Is there something I might assist you with?"

"Well now that you mention it," Madeline said, "I wonder if while you are at the Second Branch you could check in on Maria? She's been somewhat impatient with the pace of Unit 04's development and now that Berlin has gotten even Unit 05 over to Tokyo-3, well, her impatience has become noticeable even here on the other side of the ocean."

Soren nodded stoically. "I shall see to it that the Fraulein tempers herself."

"Please. Maria's a good girl and she understands the importance of the project, but with so many Angels having already been defeated she likely feels her choice to prove herself is slipping away. She's still young, so sometimes has trouble keeping the big trouble in mind."

"Fraulein Langley is much the same," Soren commented blandly.

"Yes, so I've heard. Oh, and one other thing. The committee has reached a decision regarding Commander Wesker. They feel that at this time there is not sufficient reason sanction him, even if he failed to properly clean up the hybrid program he was charged with overseeing."

An eyebrow rose ever so slightly on Soren's face. "I see."

"The committee would however like you to examine the procedures in place for the S2 engine test. Should you find anything, problematic, they will want to know immediately."

"Of course," Soren said.

The plane rumbled slightly as it began its descent.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer Colonel. Good luck."

"Thank you ma'am."

The feed cut out and Soren leaned back into his seat as he waited. Groom Lake had been a military base for decades at this point and even now was fairly well defended against any potential intrusions, not that too many people were stupid enough these days to try approaching a NERV site. The fixed defenses had come in very handy during Sahaquiel's attack and out the window Soren could make out a few of the SAM sites. They grew ever closer and soon enough he could even make out a few that were tracking his plane as it descended. Paranoid, but a necessary considering those few people actually crazy enough to try approaching the base unauthorized were unlikely to have mere sightseeing as their goal.

The plane landed with a thump and soon enough rolled to a stop. Soren disembarked first, his team of specialists following on his heels. To his mild surprise a squad of NERV soldiers stood by as a small honor guard with along with Maria herself waiting to greet him. They all snapped a salute as Soren neared, a gesture the man returned.

"Colonel Reimer," Maria said with a smile. "Welcome to NERV Second Branch."

"Thank you Lieutenant Vincennes," Soren said.

"Please, just Maria is fine," the girl said. "I may be a lieutenant, but I'm still a kid so no one really takes the rank seriously."

The soldiers standing behind the girl cracked a few grins as if hearing an old joke but Soren caught the slight tension in Maria's tone. She wanted her rank to be taken seriously and despite her many achievements her age remained a handicap in that regard. It was something that irritated the girl immensely even if she hid it well.

"I will keep that in mind, Fraulein," Soren said, composed as ever and causing the smiles to disappear from the soldiers as his eyes flickered over them.

"Please, follow me," Maria said.

Soren nodded and fell in step alongside the girl. "It hardly seems necessary for you to personally come meet me."

Maria flashed a pseudo-shy smile. "To be honest, I volunteered because I wanted to meet you. I've heard bits and pieces about you from my family and they all say that you're very, dedicated to the Project. So dedicated that you, well, accepted the First's gift."

Two things were becoming readily apparent about the girl. First, despite the innuendos and doublespeak she engaged in it was clear Maria was immensely proud of the fact that she was aware of the goal of Instrumentality. The girl was nearly bursting to be able to talk about it with someone similarly in the know. Second, she actually seemed to genuinely look up to Soren. Whether that was due to a misplaced sense of awe or curiosity regarding the modifications to his body Soren had undergone was an open question at this point but it was definitely raising some mixed feelings in the man.

Maria Vincennes was something of an anomaly amongst the pilots. Like Shinji she was the grandchild of a SEELE council member but unlike the boy she had been raised in the family so to speak, indoctrinated from a young age into believing the grand mission their patriarch was engaged in. That meant she knew exactly what the endgame was intended to be, at least in the abstract. It was highly unlikely a girl her age could comprehend the cost SEELE's vision entailed or the cost already extracted from humanity. After all, even adults had difficulty knowing how to feel about the death of billions even if they knew very much how to feel when amongst those billions were loved ones. Maria however had been brought up to believe that such costs were worth it for the supposed bliss and ascension that was Instrumentality. How to deal with her had been one of the stickier points in the collective's plan.

Previously the plan to leave the Second Branch to its fate, swallowed up by the implosion of the flawed S2 engine, would have cleanly taken care of the issue. Many however remained extremely uncomfortable with sacrificing hundreds of people through inaction and many others did not particularly like the idea of letting unfolding events take care of a problem that was difficult to face. With the revised plan to try to save the Second Branch, trying to game the situation such that Maria remained a casualty left an even bitterer aftertaste for many.

Ultimately however the decision was made to not make Soren's job any more complicated by trying to arrange accidents in the midst of the mess. Maria would likely survive, assuming Soren's plan succeeded, and she would go on to Tokyo-3 with a Unit 04 that would need some more work before it was actually usable without the S2 engine. She would even survive the decapitating strike the collective was planning, though even if not having to kill a child did assuage the guilt of some members such concerns had been irrelevant in reaching that particular decision. Maria Vincennes would have a role to play once the dust settled, one that would advance the ultimate goal of ensuring humanity's survival in a hostile universe. Had she been found wanting for the role, Soren would have put a bullet in her himself. No trace of that however was in his tone as he spoke with the girl.

"Mankind must advance or perish. If what is needed are strong hands to give humanity the necessary push on the next step of our evolution, I will be one of those hands."

Maria's smile widened, this one just a bit more genuine. To Soren however it looked as hollow as any of the others the girl had given him.

End of Chapter 29

Huh. No comments on the date? After all the badgering for me to push those two along?

This chapter took a bit longer to get out. Had quite a few real life things to deal with in the past week. Anyway, I think I've basically set the stage for at least one potential sequel.

For the longest time I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with Maria. Make her an Asuka-clone like her profile suggests and have her stir up drama that way? Or go a completely different direction? I chose a little from column a and a little from column b. I also thought it'd be interesting to have someone on the other side, as it were. And I'll leave all of you to speculate on just what will end up happening to the girl.

I know I've killed at least one fan theory in this chapter and that was kind of intentional. Consider it an indirect answer to other questions.

An interesting thing that I wonder if people noticed is that, Amanda's full given name is Amanda Sommer. Madison's is however Madison Ingrid Metz. I'll leave it at that for now.

Let's see, I'm thinking Leliel will be one chapter and then maybe another cleanup chapter. And then we head into the endgame. So maybe fifteen more chapters before I conclude this story.

Oh, and I've changed the fic summary again. As more gets revealed the more spoilerish it becomes as I don't need to worry about spoiling things that haven't been released yet.

Enjoy and drop a review if you do.


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Fehlzündung

"Ikari-sensei, General Suzaku is here."

The elderly man did not even bother looking up from his table. "Show him in."

Moments later the general entered and politely bowed to the older man.

"Suzaku Genbu," Ikari greeted.

"Ikari-sensei."

"Please, join me."

"By your leave."

The house the two were meeting in was classically Japanese, one of the estates owned by Ikari and specifically chosen to appeal to the general's sensibilities. As an ardent nationalist Suzaku was in some respects quite easy to butter up. At the same time those that underestimated the man tended to be given short thrift. Hiroto Ikari, special advisor to the Japanese government, was unlikely to make any such misstep however. Genbu remained silent, deferring to the older man that he considered a mentor of sorts. Ikari had never served in the military but had pushed for the reorientation of the JSDF into a far more potent force. That push had given birth to the very JSSDF that Suzaku now commanded.

"It would appear that the JSSDF has suffered a blow," Ikari stated.

"Our enemies have struck a low blow against us," Suzaku said. "They sought to tarnish our dignity while weakening our strength. They have no honor."

"An enemy must be defeated whether they be honorable or dishonorable," Ikari said. "That they lack honor is no excuse for succumbing to them."

Suzaku bowed his head. "You are right, sensei."

"Still, it is important to know who is and is not an enemy, for only honorable allies may be counted upon when battle is drawn."

"You believe an ally would betray us?" Suzaku said.

"One already has, has he not?" Ikari replied. "Though perhaps he is not dishonorable at all. A man who openly admits his, mercenary qualities, has a frank honesty that less open men lack."

Suzaku frowned as the hints clicked into place. "Kaji Ryoji."

Ikari nodded. "A Japanese who sold out his homeland to the, foreign, United Nations. He has made clear his loyalties."

Suzaku remained silent for nearly a minute, watching as Ikari's brush flowed across the paper.

"The UN, while not of Japan, is still powerful," Ikari said. "While they lack a sense of honor, their agents are capable. It would be a mistake to underestimate them."

"True enough," Ikari said. "One must not dismiss an enemy simply because they lack one's own dignity. But with proper planning and care, any enemy may be laid low. One must simply be prepared to dedicate the necessary, vigor, in the pursuit."

As a civilian Ikari could not actually issue an order to Suzaku. Very few people in the military could for that matter and the only civilians that legally could order the general around were the defense minister and prime minister. But Hiroto Ikari was not just anyone and Suzaku knew an instruction when he heard one. It was not even an instruction he was particularly against carrying out. For that matter the general was even looking forward to exacting some measure of revenge against the UN for ruining the Trident program and tarring the JSSDF's reputation.

"The JSSDF does not forget its enemies," Suzaku finally said. "Nor its friends."

Ikari nodded solemnly and set his brush aside. Picking up the paper, he presented it to Suzaku with both hands. The general picked it up and noticed the beautifully drawn kanji. 義. Righteousness.

"I am honored by your gift, Ikari-sensei," Suzaku said, head bowed low.

"Your dedication is the true honor, General Suzaku. Do not let it waver."

* * *

Unit 05 slammed into the mountainside, pinned by the immense pressure of the Angel's AT-field. Mari snarled, opening fire despite the rounds flattening into useless hunks almost the moment they exited the barrel. Even worse she was not even the center of the Angel's attention. That was reserved for Units 01 and 02. Asuka let out a roar as she slammed her axe into the AT-field, the edge sparking as the vibrating blade tried to chew through the barrier. Shinji was having a similar lack of luck with a massive sword, one of several new weapons that had come with Unit 05 from Berlin. New was apparently not an improvement in this case.

The Angel crouched down slightly and suddenly Shinji and Asuka found themselves shoved back. Mari's rounds were making a bit more headway with the brief diversion of power but as the girl advanced the point where they smashed into the AT-field before falling to the ground remained unchanged after the initial push. In fact the AT-field that protected this Angel was visible enough to refract light in three dimensions, not just the usual two.

Small explosions erupted behind the Angel as it erected yet another AT-field to defend from the long range attack. Some distance away Rei was firing as quickly as the sniper rifle could load the high explosive rounds. This far away she was unable to assist in eroding the Angel's AT-field but conversely she was also in theory safe from direct retaliation by the Angel, assuming of course it did not possess a particle weapon like Ramiel. Rei flinched, rolling aside as suddenly the ground where her EVA lay just moments before cratered. Her rifle in pieces, the First Child stood and pushed her EVA forth to join in the fray.

"This is ridiculous!" Asuka snapped. "Mari! Shinji! On me!"

The other two pilots maneuvered their machines to join Asuka's and followed as the girl charged in. She slammed into the first AT-field, seemingly smashing it into pieces even as another appeared to bounce her back.

"Mari!"

The girl immediately understood what her comrade wanted and with a scream of her own threw her EVA into the new barrier, shattering it before similarly running into a new barrier. Shinji needed no urging to repeat the task, blowing through but once more stymied as the Angel brought up another layer. Asuka was waiting however, already recovered and rammed through. The cycle repeated, the pilots inching closer and closer, desperately trying to keep the momentum going. Suddenly Asuka's unit slipped, a glimmer by her feet knocking her aside as the Angel counterattacked.

"Shit!" the girl cried.

Mari scrambled to make up for the redhead's lapse but her unit moved sluggishly, still rearing from its own last attack. And then a blue mass flew past, cracking the field and managing to finally ram the Angel itself. First blood went to the First Child as Rei plunged her prog knife into the thing's flesh. The Angel roared, stabbing an arm through Unit 00 and eliciting a scream of pain from the girl.

"Rei!"

A hefty swing looked ready to slice through offending appendage but Shinji once more struck only the creature's seemingly insurmountable AT-field. But Asuka and Rei had already proven that you could break through the field and the boy kept hacking away, landing blow after blow as quickly as the EVA's muscles could raise the sword. He could feel the burning in his own arms as he pushed Unit 01 to its absolute limits. And then another blade entered the fray, stabbing the Angel under its arm.

"Get your hands off my roommate!" Asuka snarled.

Mari joined in, her rifle long ago discarded and wielding a glaive she had pulled from a weapons locker. The tip of the blade sparked against another AT-field but the girl was undeterred. Twisting about, Mari slammed a fiest against the end of the glaive and drove it straight through the field. The blade sank into the Angel's back, causing it to screech once more. That cry was cut off as Shinji slammed his sword into the thing's head and together the four EVAs twisted their respective weapons, shredding the creature's flesh. Within the bloody mass a crimson core throbbed. Asuka wasted no time sinking her axe into it. The thing bulged as it tried to retain integrity. The redhead slammed her EVA's heel into the flat side of the axe. It slid through and split the core entirely in half. An explosion enveloped the creature and the EVAs standing about it.

The plug suits went dark with the words 'Simulation Complete' flashing. Shinji sank into his seat, his body feeling more than a little drained as the adrenaline tapered off.

"Time, forty-six minutes plus," Maya said over the radio.

Had they really been fighting for almost three quarters of an hour? Everything had been a blur and the boy could barely remember anything.

"That was nuts," Asuka declared. "That Angel was stupidly powerful! Nothing we've faced had an AT-field that strong!"

"Umm, actually I think Ramiel might have," Shinji put in. "But that was before you arrived."

The girl glared at him over the video feed but Shinji simply smiled.

"In point of fact this Angel's AT-field was not as strong as Ramiel's," Misato said over the radio. "If it had been, your little trick with continuously smashing through the field wouldn't have worked."

"Seriously!? What was the point of this simulation then?"

"The point is to challenge and push all of you," Misato said. "We have no idea how strong the remaining Angels are and I would prefer that we overestimate their strength and prepare appropriately than to underestimate them and not be prepared enough. Conversely, I would rather that the simulations be difficult instead of outright impossible. If an Angel with AT-fields as strong as Ramiel showed up and used those fields offensively as well as defensively, your teamwork isn't quite up to the task of taking it on yet. But don't worry, we'll ramp up to that after you get more practice in."

"Joy of joys," Asuka said sullenly.

"What's the matter princess," Mari interjected with her ever present grin. "Doesn't it get your blood running when you go up against something strong?"

"Not all of us are axe-crazy Mari," Asuka said. "Misato, if an Angel that tough shows up, shouldn't we just shoot it with the positron canon and be done with it?"

"In theory yes," Misato said, "but if the Angel manages to get past the cannon you're our last line of defense so you need to be prepared."

"Fine, fine," Asuka said. "Alright you three, no slacking off next time. I want that Angel dead within twenty, no, ten minutes the next time we run this simulation."

"But, how are we supposed to do that?" Shinji asked incredulously.

"We already know we can smash through its AT-field if we all gang up on it," Asuka said. "Next time we'll open with that instead of trying to take it one at a time. And that's not all! After dinner tonight we're brainstorming up new tactics! If the Angels, or these make-believe Angels Misato's cooking up, are going to get tougher, we need to get tougher too!"

Amanda chuckled as she listened as she listened to the banter. From the grins and smirks on the faces of the operators she was not the only one that found the exchange amusing.

"Good work everyone," Misato said. "Collate all of the data and forward it to my workspace."

Acknowledgments answered her as Amanda left the observation deck. Misato was right behind her.

"Amanda."

The German woman slowed to let her friend catch up.

"About that Angel," she began.

Amanda was nonplussed. "Yes?"

"Where did you get the inspiration for it? And don't give me any nonsense about it just being something you made up."

The major at least had the sense to keep her voice hushed.

"Have you ever wondered where the names for the Angels come from?" Amanda asked in an equally quiet tone.

"Sometimes," Misato admitted. "I've looked up the names and they always seem oddly, fitting for whatever Angel we're facing. Some of the time at least."

Amanda nodded. "Those names aren't a coincidence. And unlike you, I know what the remaining, unassigned names are. One of those names is Zeruel, the Angel of Might."

Misato frowned. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"Me either. Assuming Zeruel lives up to its name, we have to assume its title represents its strength relative to the other Angels. The strongest AT-field we've encountered thus far is Ramiel's and we should treat that as the lower bound for what Zeruel's might be."

"If something that strong does show up, are we going to have enough firepower to take it down?"

"If we're lucky the positron cannon will be up to the task," Amanda said. "If not, well, we still have our trump down in Terminal Dogma."

Misato took scant seconds to get the hint. "You mean the Spear."

Amanda nodded. "Lilith will keep for however long we need to pull it out and take out the Angel with it. So long as we're quick and stick it back into the Angel after we're done."

"Sounds risky," Misato said uneasily.

Amanda snorted. "What have we done in the past couple of months that couldn't be considered risky?"

That Misato had to concede to her friend.

* * *

The man seated behind the desk tried to present an intimidating visage. The strong jawline and face framed by the black sunglasses might even have worked on people with less mental fortitude. From Soren's perspective the man simply looked like a wannabe Caucasian Gendo Ikari. Somehow the German doubted Commander Wesker of the NERV Second Branch would appreciate that comparison. Not that Soren particularly cared what Wesker thought, something the NERV branch commander had very quickly learned.

"I appreciate your concerns Colonel," Wesker said, emphasizing the rank, "but the risks are manageable. We've run countless simulations and I am confident we can control the S2 engine even with the amount of energy we plan on drawing from it"

"Your confidence is your own Commander," Soren replied bluntly. "I do not share it, especially with something as complex the engine. Your proposed test run intends to use a far higher ratio than the Third Branch recommended as the absolute limits of what the engine can safely do." Recommendations that were already too optimistic at that. "The risks you prepared to run are unacceptable considering the very real danger to the EVA, its pilot, and the entire branch. Step the settings down."

The last sentence was spoken with exquisite politeness. It was also a very blunt order. An eyebrow rose from behind the sunglasses.

"You have no authority over this branch Colonel," Wesker said coldly. "Nor over me. The final decision on the experiment is mine and mine alone to make."

"On the contrary," Soren countered. "Final authority on the project rests with the committee, and if I find it necessary I will issue an A4 directive until such time as the committee rules on the validity of my concerns."

If Wesker was treating Soren coldly before the older man was enraged now. The change was subtle, the tightening of the jaw and whitening of knuckles, but it was there.

"I will, take your recommendation under advisement," Wesker said, though both men knew he would have no choice to be adopt them.

As part of the IPEA Soren did not normally have any actual command authority over NERV operations, though his oversight position of Inspector-General meant he could exercise certain powers that gave him defacto control if the need arose. Soren nodded in acknowledgment of Wesker's concession and left without another word.

Since his arrival at the Second Branch certain things were clicking into place. The mystery of what exactly caused the destruction of the Second Branch had never been definitively solved by the collective even with their vast amount of information. The reason was simple enough, none of them had been at ground zero and could know what had actually happened. The reconstructed S2 engine was known to be flawed, yes, but Third Branch's errors should not have initiated an implosion so quickly that no data reached the outside.

Having had a chance to get a firsthand look at the proposed configuration Wesker wanted to run the experiment in the answer was now blindingly obvious. Second Branch's commander had made some unauthorized modifications to the original proposed by the Third Branch and the end result was the destruction of both the Second Branch and most of what was left of the state of Nevada. Just what exactly Wesker was trying to achieve remained an open question, one Soren was actively working on answering.

"Colonel!" Maria greeted as Soren rounded the corner.

"Fraulein," Soren said with a slight nod but did not break his stride. Maria fell in beside him quickly.

"Rumor has it that you wanted some modifications be made to S2 engine bringup configuration."

"That is correct," Soren stated flatly.

"May I ask why?"

"Commander Wesker seems to believe that vaporizing the base is an acceptable risk for a few more percentages in the energy conversion. I disagreed."

Maria giggled, apparently finding some amusement in the man's demeanor. "Commander Wesker's always been trying to score points with Grandpa and the rest of the council. He seems to be somewhat good at it, seeing as they made him commander of Second Branch."

That much was true, though Soren knew that the council valued Wesker more for his ruthlessness than necessarily his competence. The man was good, no one rose to this level of responsibility without possessing the ability to at least technically execute the duties involved. Nevertheless he would always be held at somewhat arms length by SEELE. Wesker was a useful tool, yes, but he remained a tool and always would. The actual inner circle was closed to him by a very simple fact; they did not need him. If SEELE needed a problem solved politically they had several agents in place from one Auditor-General Amanda Sommer to the UN Secretary-General Madeline Vincennes. If they needed someone sanctioned, Klinge had dozens of agents that could carry out the deed. If they wanted someone completely erased, well, turning someone into goo was the least of the abilities gifted to Soren by the Adams embryo implanted inside him. And that was before he got around to tapping into the collective's powers. With any luck he might yet have a chance to exercise a few of them on Wesker.

"Still, he'll do what you say if he knows what's good for him," Maria said confidently.

"Be careful not to underestimate a man with ambitions, Fraulein," Soren said. "He would only be too happy to show you what you want to see when in fact what you see merely obscures what is really happening."

"Understood, Colonel," Maria said earnestly.

"It is important not to assume one can know another's thoughts," Soren said. "Herr Wesker has his own objectives, much as you and I have our own. Because each of us think differently, each of us responds differently to stimuli. That difference in response can then lead to friction and even conflict."

Maria nodded, trying to give the impression that she understood Soren's point. "It is why Instrumentality is so important. Once those differences are removed, there will be no conflict. Humanity will finally be at peace with one another, simply there will be no 'other' that we do not understand."

Soren wondered if the girl really believed in the ideal she was spouting or whether, like a certain other someone might have, she was simply parroting words in an effort to gain approval and recognition.

"Was there something you needed, Fraulein?" Soren asked.

"I was hoping we could talk," Maria said. "About the other pilots, I mean. I'll be joining them in Tokyo-3 soon and I wanted to get a better idea of what they're like before we meet."

Soren regarded the girl. "Interesting."

Maria blinked. "What?"

"There are many reasons one might wish to better know others. One such reason is an earnest attempt to reduce the, friction, that inevitably rises when interacting with other people and thus reduce the conflict that causes both the self and the other such pain. I wonder, is that your reason?"

Maria flushed. No, that was a blush. At first she seemed unable to look Soren in the eye but when she finally peeked she saw a slight, almost gentle smile on the German's face. She found herself smiling back.

"Instrumentality is meant to end the suffering that encompasses our existence," Maria said. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't make an effort to reduce some of it before it is achieved. Otherwise, would we be truly worthy of the bliss it offers?"

Soren tilted his head slightly in a nod. "I believe it is time for lunch. Will you join me, lieutenant? We can discuss your fellow pilots while we eat."

Maria's smile grew wider. "I'd love to, colonel."

The food served by the cafeteria at the Second Branch was passable but nowhere on par with what was offered at NERV-Berlin or NERV-Tokyo. That was not surprising in the least seeing as the place had never had to rise to meet the standards of one Amanda Sommer. As it was Soren grabbed helpings almost at random, in the worst case he could deaden his taste buds like he had done for almost every meal during his initial PT as a Bundeswehr conscript. Maria was more selective, specifying which cut of roast she wanted and grabbing the largest piece of cake. Something told Soren the girl would have foregone a helping of vegetables had she not caught his gaze. The girl really was trying too hard to impress him, generating some of the very friction that she had just claimed Instrumentality would eliminate. She was young however and would take many years yet to truly mature, Soren thought as they sat down.

"If you have any specific questions about the other pilots, ask," Soren said.

"Umm," Maria hummed. "I guess, what are they like? You spent a lot of time with Asuka and Mari in Berlin, right? You even taught Asuka how to play the violin."

Soren nodded slightly as he cut into his own roast. "My responsibility was to ensure the Frauleins were mentally able to pilot the EVAs. This required they possess a strong will and balanced persona, which they do."

"Thanks to you?"

For Asuka that was almost certainly true, though Amanda also deserved a significant amount of credit. As for Mari, that girl took almost everything in stride and Soren was not sure if anything could ever crack her demeanor. Well, the end of the world might, though perhaps not for the same reason as for other people. Still, the answer Soren gave Maria was not quite so straightforward.

"Both Asuka and Mari grew up without their mothers," Soren said, noticing the slight tremble in the girl. "That is not a trivial lack they experienced. It also need not cripple their mental state. Both have emerged as strong and willful young women. Others can lend a helping hand but it is ultimately they themselves that must find the will to persevere. Much as what you are right now owes most to your own self."

The blush on Maria's face was darker this time and the girl tried, unsuccessfully, to hide it by chowing down on her food.

"Herr Ikari on the other hand has been somewhat less fortunate," Soren said. "He was abandoned by a father too afraid of his obligations and too fixated on his own loss at a young age. Even now the scars from those wounds remain quite evident. Yet with the right push, he is capable of impressive feats."

Maria nodded. "He fought two Angels by himself and defeated them, without any training. Is he a natural, or just really lucky?"

"His first victory was due to some clever machination by his father," Soren stated. "His other victories can be attributed to his ability to learn and grow, along with the assistance he has received from others. In some respects those victories represent what humanity can achieve when united in purpose."

"Are you saying he would not have won otherwise?"

"It would be accurate to say that every time an EVA pilot has attempted to engage an Angel alone, the end result might as well be Pyrrhic. Humanity has only so much resources available and the costs involved with repairing an EVA could bankrupt entire nations. To win a battle at the cost of the greater war would be, counterproductive, to say the least."

"So we all need to fight smarter," Maria said.

"Quite. The Angels have grown increasingly dangerous with every appearance. It would be rather disappointing if we were to fail at the very cusp of ascension."

"We won't fail," Maria said confidently. "With Unit 04 and its S2 engine, we'll be able to meet the Angels on equal terms."

Soren tilted his head aside. "A war is not won by fighting an enemy that is equal to you in strength, lieutenant. It is won by reducing the enemy's strength such that the battle is won before it is met. Remember that, if nothing else."

Maria nodded seriously. Soren idly wondered if teaching the girl that lesson might end up biting certain individuals in the ass in the future.

* * *

The command center was on high alert with all its stations manned. A live feed from the city displayed the inbound bogey, a black and white striped sphere floating in the air. Everyone was fairly certain it was an Angel, even if they had yet to actually detect an AT-field. Nevertheless the EVAs were scrambled, or rather most of them were.

"Unit 01 will remain on standby," Ikari ordered.

Misato offered no protest, agreeing with the caution even if for differing reasons. Shinji however was of a different mindset.

"Why!?" the boy demanded.

"We're still verifying that the Angel cells in your body are completely inert," Ritsuko said. "Until then, it's best to be safe and only deploy you if absolutely necessary."

"But they're fighting an Angel!" Shinji protested. "We've never had a time when we needed anything less than all of us out there!"

As true as that was simple truth was often not enough for those inconvenienced by it.

"The order stands," Gendo said flatly. "Remain at your post. Colonel Katsuragi, keep Unit 01 locked down."

Misato gave Gendo a dirty glare. The man really had no tact, as a person or a father.

"Sorry Shinji-kun," Misato said. "Just bear with it, okay? I'll make sure nothing happens to them."

"Yeah!" Asuka's voice cut in. "We don't need you holding our hands out here, Third! Sheesh, have a little faith!"

Shinji frowned. "But-"

"This isn't a democracy," Amanda interrupted. "Shinji, we are aware of your concerns, so don't make this operation any harder than it is by being uncooperative. If the situation warrants it, rest assured that you will be deployed. For now however we need you to follow orders and not distract the others."

Amanda rarely took such a tone with speaking with her juniors so Shinji knew the woman was being dead serious. He sighed and slumped back into his seat.

"Alright Amanda-san, I'll wait here."

"Thank you," Amanda said more gently. "Misato, I believe the floor is yours."

Behind the two women a snort could be heard but Amanda chose to ignore it. Misato flashed a quick smile before assuming a serious pose.

"Units 00, 02, and 05 will deploy," she ordered. "Asuka, take point. Rei, provide fire support. Mari, back up Asuka."

"Roger!"

"Leave it to me."

"Acknowledged."

"Be careful out there," Shinji added.

"Don't worry Shinji," Asuka said. "We'll kill this Angel no sweat."

The three EVAs rolled out to the launch pads one after the other and shot up to the surface. Weapons lockers opened up and each one grabbed their respective weapons. Rei laid prone on the ground, leveling her sniper rifle at the Angel.

"In position."

"Almost there," Asuka said, having the furthest to go.

The EVA carried with it a massive halberd as it croached against a building. The sight of the red giant trying to sneak about was more than a tad ridiculous as with every step it took the ground shook. Asuka peered out from behind a build and saw the sphere hanging there.

"Mari, you ready yet?"

"Just about," the girl said.

"What's taking you so long?"

"For someone that's supposed to be slinking around you're pretty fast. And noisy."

Asuka sniffed. "It's called adapting to the situation, keep up!"

In the distance Unit 05 emerged, rifle at the ready.

"Waiting on you princess."

Asuka snorted. "Alright, Rei, one shot! Let's see if we can get this thing to show its AT-field."

A boom sounded and a round sliced through the air. It moved far too quickly for the human eye to follow but Asuka watched the Angel intently so as not to miss it. And miss it she did not, nor did Rei, for an orange streak blew through the Angel and went speeding on. Asuka frowned.

"Uh, okay, what just happened?" the German redhead asked over the radio.

Before anyone could answer however the sphere flickered and disappeared.

"Pattern blue detected!" Aoba cried out. "Localizing, it's, on Unit 02!?"

"What!?"

Looking down Asuka saw a circular shadow beneath her feet. The girl pushed off instinctively but the ground seemed to give way and she began sinking.

"Crap! It's got me!"

Asuka slammed her halberd into the building, using it as leverage to try to pull herself out. Unfortunately the shadow was equally insistent and the blade began slicing through the structure.

"Hang on Asuka!" Mari cried as she charged forth.

"Rei, do you have a shot?" Misato asked, trying to remain calm.

"Negative," a noticeably perturbed voice answered. "Relocating."

On the display Unit 00 could be seen climbing another building, trying to get a clear vantage point.

"Good initiative," Madison muttered, quiet enough that only Amanda heard.

The German woman nodded in agreement, though doubted it would be enough.

"Slipping here!" Asuka cried out.

Leveling her rifle Mari fired off a burst at the shadow, somehow managing to hit the shadow and avoid Asuka's EVA. Nothing seemed to happen when suddenly Unit 02 jerked, the pull on it intensifying.

"Not helping four-eyes!"

"I need something bigger!" Mari shouted.

"Weapons locker 656, it's got a rocket launcher," Misato said.

"Diverting!"

"Misato! Send me out there!" Shinji cried out.

Misato grimaced but turned to face the command dais. "Permission to deploy Unit 01 sir."

"Denied," Gendo replied immediately.

For a brief moment the command center seemed to freeze as if unable to believe the elder Ikari's order.

"Sir!?"

"Continue with the operation with your current forces, colonel," Gendo said coldly.

The glare Misato laid upon Gendo was at best insubordinate and at worst promised untold retribution later. But as Amanda remained silent Misato knew she did not have the backing necessary to override the commander.

"I'm sorry, Shinji-kun," Misato said.

"What!? Father, what are you thinking!?"

Gendo said nothing in response, instead simply watching the unfolding events. Asuka's struggle was reaching its climax as her EVA sank ever deeper.

"Damn it, let go of me you bastard! Mari! Where the hell are you!"

"Incoming!"

Asuka looked up, the eyes of her EVA flashing green as she registered the rocket that was coming her way.

"Oh crap!"

The rocket disappeared into the circle and detonated a moment later. In that moment Asuka felt the force of the explosion push her upward, just barely counteracting the pull trying to drag her down.

"Nice!" Asuka exclaimed, ignoring the throbbing pain from the concussion that had slammed into the EVA's legs.

And then the halberd gave, having cut through the last support beam.

"Oh, hell."

Unit 02 dropped, disappearing into the black circle."

"ASUKA!"

The cry of a certain boy was the last thing Asuka heard as the radio went dead. She looked about, only to see total darkness. And then the power cord snapped and the countdown began.

"Oh, crap."

* * *

As Ritsuko finished her presentation at lot of unhappy faces looked back at her.

"That's your plan!?" Misato exclaimed. "Drop nearly a thousand N2 warheads onto the Angel and hope that kills it without killing Asuka!?"

"Considering the nature of the Angel, we have no other means of combating it," Ritsuko said. "The EVA itself should still be salvageable after the Angel's destruction and it in theory should be strong enough to shield Asuka."

"In theory," Misato spat. "In theory isn't good enough. There is no way in hell I'm signing off on this plan."

"The decision is not yours, Colonel Katsuragi," Gendo said. "It is mine. Proceed."

"Sir you can't be serious!?"

Gendo looked at Misato dismissively. "The order is issued, colonel. If you cannot carry it out, I will find someone who can."

Before Misato could do something rash, like pull her gun out and shoot the commander, Amanda spoke up.

"I'm afraid the decision is _not_ yours, Commander Ikari."

The room fell deathly silent as Gendo's gaze shifted to the German woman. Amanda returned the look levelly and without a trace of worry.

"Are you suggesting you intend to override my order, Auditor-General Sommer?" Ikari asked.

"No," Amanda said, causing surprise to ripple through the room. "You will however find that this plan is impossible to carry out. Based on the MAGI's calculations you would need at least two EVAs to neutralize the Angel's AT-field. While Rei might accept a direct order to participate, you will find that your son would be more liable to try killing you with his EVA than carry out the order if you dared issue it. And Mari, well, she may not express her displeasure so forcefully, but she would also be completely unwilling to risk the life of her friend like that."

The scowl on Gendo's face turned into a full-fledged glare. "The pilots are here to defeat Angels. If they cannot complete that task, they are useless."

"Best of luck replacing them," Amanda said flippantly. "Oh wait, they're irreplaceable. You on the other hand, Commander Ikari, are not." Amanda's look hardened noticeably. "Find another way, Commander, lest it is you that is deemed unable to perform your duty."

Gendo blinked. In truth he had known that this course of action would elicit opposition but he was somewhat surprised by the vehemence of it from both Misato and Amanda. Then again perhaps he should not have been. Both were obviously overly sentimental about the Second Child despite her disposable nature. That sentimentality would ultimately serve only as a weakness for him to exploit but right now it was an equally dangerous blade directed at him. Doing his best to appear composed Gendo shifted his gaze back to Ritsuko.

"Formulate an alternate strategy, doctor," Gendo said, "one that would give the pilots less reason to protest."

"Yes sir," Ritsuko said somewhat glumly. Not that she wanted to see the German girl dead, but the N2 plan really had been their best shot at killing the Angel in her estimate.

"The destruction of the Angel remains the primary objective with the retrieval of the EVA secondary," Gendo continued, apparently not finished. "Prioritize the retrieval of the Second Child only to the extent needed to secure the cooperation of the other pilots."

Ritsuko blinked while Misato nearly snarled at the commander. Ikari however gave no opportunity to further dispute his order as he stood and left the room with Fuyutsuki in tow. Misato looked over at her, friend.

"I don't care what Commander Jerkass says," she said. "Get Asuka out of there alive, Ritsuko, or there will be hell to pay."

Ritsuko began to respond but Amanda beat her to it.

"If nothing else consider the consequences of an enraged Shinji in Unit 01," the German woman said. "I'm sure you of all people would have no trouble imagining the carnage he could wrought if someone he cared about was harmed due to, carelessness, on our part."

That got Ritsuko to shut her mouth and she nodded stiffly. The look she gave the others as she left was still not one of particular joy at the task laid before her.

Misato sighed as she slumped back down into her chair. "How did we come to this."

"Don't be too hard on Ritsuko," Amanda said. "She and the commander actually have a very good reason to want to kill the Angel as quickly as possible, whatever the risks."

"What? Even at the risk of killing Asuka?" Misato demanded.

"Even so. You know now that Lilith is down in Terminal Dogma. What you didn't know is that the entire base is set to automatically self-destruct if an Angel gets down there. At the same time an EVA can go down there, because it possesses a pattern orange AT-field. If the Angel is somehow able to, incorporate, Unit 02 into itself, it could bypass the failsafes and force its way down there."

Misato blanched. "Oh my god."

"Quite," Amanda said. "On the other hand I'm not quite sure which would be more destructive, the Angel getting down there or Shinji going on a rampage because we got Asuka killed. I would prefer not finding out."

To that Misato was more than happy to agree.

* * *

Asuka glanced up at the clock. Ten more hours before the EVA's batteries were completely drained and life support gave out. She would not die immediately when that happened but the build up of carbon dioxide would get her quickly enough. She sighed, letting a bubble of LCL ripple out of her mouth.

"Alright Asuka, think, how the hell do I get myself out of this one?" the girl said to herself. "The EVA's floating, so something's keeping me buoyant but I didn't feel anything. And the Angel itself was apparently some shadow in the ground. Okay, how many laws of physics are being broken by this thing?"

Another sigh.

"Think Asuka, think. Light doesn't seem to actually propagate here, so something is either absorbing them or, there's nothing out there for them to interact with. I think?"

The girl played back her initial entry into this strange space, recalling that pitch black surrounded her EVA when she tried looking outside. Even when she turned on the lights mounted on her unit nothing appeared. Nothing, not even her own EVA.

"Okay, so it's being absorbed," the girl concluded. "So now the question is where here is. Did the Angel drop me in some weird ass dimension, or am I inside the Angel?"

Again Asuka searched through her memory. An Angel's AT-field was generally something a pilot could feel when inside an EVA, assuming the EVA was being powered, and before she shut everything but life support down she recalled the slight sensation of a field. But was that field simply from the Angel opening a hole into whatever this place was, or because she was inside the Angel? The only way to find that out was to turn the EVA's systems back on but that would drastically cut into her life support time. Assuming NERV was preparing to mount a rescue operation, and Asuka had no doubt with Misato and Amanda, and even Shinji, Mari, and Rei around, one would be insisted upon, it would be really stupid of her to get herself killed before it was ready. The smart thing to do was be patient and wait. Patience was not the girl's strong suit.

"If I'm inside the Angel, I should be able to kill it," Asuka said aloud. "At the very least, I could try to erode its AT-field and maybe open up a whole back to Tokyo-3. Assuming it's still in Tokyo-3. But is one EVA enough to do that? Damn, where's the MAGI when you need it? Stupid supercomputer that takes up an entire floor…" Another sigh as the girl curled up. "And here I go talking to myself again. At least I'm pretty sure I'm not going insane."

_Are you sure?_

"Of course I'm sure. I'm pretty sure if I was slipping down the deep end I'd know."

_But how would you know?_

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'd know, I know myself pretty well-"

Asuka's head shot up and she found herself looking at a redhaired pigtailed little girl floating in front of her. Said girl smiled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Asuka threw herself back and slammed into the rear of the entry plug. The girl giggled.

"Who the hell are you!?" Asuka screamed. She then blinked. "Wait, shit, are you the Angel!?"

Another giggle.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, how the hell did you get in here!?"

_Why are you afraid?_

"You're an Angel! We're enemies! You trapped me in here!"

_Who decided we were enemies?_

"You did! When you attacked Tokyo-3!"

_Did I attack Tokyo-3?_

"Of course! I think."

Asuka thought back to the battle and surprisingly the Angel remained silent to give her time to think. The Angel appeared but simply existed, not doing anything until Rei took a shot at it. After which it promptly opened a portal and dragged Asuka into itself. The girl's eyes narrowed.

"So what were you doing in Tokyo-3 if not preparing to attack?"

_I require permission to come and go?_

"Of course! Tokyo-3's a restricted area! You can't just walk in and not expect a response!"

_Why not?_

"Because-because-gah what the hell do you want!?"

The girl giggled again, the sight more than a bit unnerving. Asuka idly wondered if she looked that creepy laughing as a child. No, no, she was cut as a little girl, not like this crazed looking chibi of doom.

_Do you know what __**you**__ want?_

"Of course I do! And stop answering my questions with more questions! Start talking sense!"

_Do you not understand?_

Asuka growled. "Listen pipsqueak, I'm about this close to giving you a good thrashing!"

_Can you do that?_

That, was a very good question, Asuka had to admit. More importantly the asking of it forced Asuka to reign in her temper. Her hotheadedness was something the girl knew could cause her problems, not least because of the thrashing on the mat Amanda gave her every time she let her emotions get the better of her while sparring. As far as Asuka knew her contact with the Angel was unprecedented. Sure Shinji had had an Angel get inside him, whereas she was the one inside the Angel this time, but the Third Child had not actually held a conversation with his opponent as far as he could remember. Here she was though, actually speaking with an Angel. That or she could be going insane, though Asuka liked to think she was mentally sound enough to have been able to stand up to a measly ten hours cooped up in the entry plug. And if this really was an opportunity to have an actual dialogue with the Angel, it was not one she should be wasting.

Asuka met the figure's gaze. "What do you want."

The thing floated there before tilting its head.

_Want do you want?_

"I want to get out of here, alive," Asuka responded. "What do you want?"

_That is not what you want._

The girl frowned. "Oh? And what is it that you think I want?"

_You want approval. Approval that comes from defeating me. Approval from others because that is your affirmation of self._

"So? What if I want to kill you? You're trying to kill me right now."

_Am I?_

"Your inaction equals my death," Asuka retorted. "When the batteries die, I suffocate."

The little girl tilted her head again.

_Truth._

"So you want me to die."

_Do I?_

"Your inaction can only mean one of two things. You want me to die by leaving me here to suffocate or you don't want me to die but you're not able to help me. I somehow doubt it's the latter."

_False._

That took Asuka by surprise. "You, you want to help me but you can't?"

_False._

Asuka growled in irritation. "It has to be one or the other, make up your mind!"

_False._

Instead of yelling at the Angel again Asuka considered the words. While she had declared the Angel's inaction meant one of only two things, the Angel obviously thought otherwise. So ruling out the two, that meant the Angel did not want her to die, yet, and did have the power to help her. In theory. Asuka's eyes widened.

"You want something from me."

The girl smiled. It was not a pleasant smile.

_Truth._

Asuka reared back as if something had struck her. In actuality nothing had physically touched her but the mental strike was more than enough to send her convulsing. She screamed, tearing at her head.

"Get way from me! Get out of my head you bastard!"

The girl twisted and turned, lashing out futilely as she tried to fight back against something that was not physically there.

"Goddamn it! Stop screwing with me! I won't let you in I won't!"

She shook herself, feeling the tendrils as it reached out for her mind. Asuka did her best, pouring her burning passion against the coldness of their touch. Yet it was not enough, the Angel was just too strong. And then something did touch her, tingling a nerve that after all this time was still raw. A nerve that still hurt from all those years ago. Asuka screamed. Deep within Unit 02, a soul stirred. The entry plug lit up and the countdown on the power dropped. Four minutes and counting.

"Mama," Asuka whispered. "Mama."

In the darkness of the Dirac Sea Unit 02 moved, the green lights of its eyes somehow piercing the pitch black darkness. A surge of warmth flooded through Asuka, blanketing and smothering out the sharp pain. The girl opened her eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the light. The strange girl was still there but with the light Asuka could make out more features. Eerily familiar features. The girl's face twisted into disgusted irritation.

"First you swallow me into this hellhone, then you take _my_ form to taunt me? Oh you are so dead!"

The girl grabbed hold of the handles and pushed. Unit 02 straightened as it expanded its AT-field. It collided almost immediately with that of the Angel and Asuka could feel the alien coldness that surrounded her. She pushed back, hard.

The little girl before her stiffened but remained where it was, still floating before Asuka. Its face however was twisting in obvious discomfort.

"Didn't like that, did ya?" Asuka said with a sneer. "Well try this on for size!"

The EVA raised its hands as if pushing at something. Light flickered in the previously black sea. A crack sounded. Asuka grinned triumphantly.

"Hah! Take that you bastard!"

Another crack. Yet even with the EVA straining the plug was otherwise quiet, quiet enough that Asuka could hear the soft sobbing that was sounding. She looked up to see the young form actually crying. A part of Asuka felt a slight pang of sympathy for the figure. Another was determined to not be distracted by an obvious ploy. She pressed forth, mindful of the clock. Generating an AT-field this powerful was quickly sapping her batteries and if she did not break out soon she would be the one crying. Yet the sobs were impossible to shut out with nothing else to mask them.

_I don't want to die._

"Then you shouldn't have tried to eat me!" Asuka snapped.

_You were trying to kill me._

"You guys struck first! You killed billions of people in Second Impact and you'll kill billions more in Third!"

_I am not strong. The weak die. I don't want to die._

Asuka frowned. "The weak don't have to die. The strong can protect the weak, if they so choose. That is humanity's strength, that is why we will win, because together, both the weak and the strong, fight!"

Another crack. The pressure around Asuka was easing.

_You would protect, the weak? You would protect, me?_

"You're trying to kill me," Asuka snarled.

_And if I stopped, trying?_

The girl should have seen that question coming but was not sure how to answer. Time was running out however.

"I only protect those I want to protect. Why should I want to protect you?"

The Angel was silent, but only for a moment. It too knew it was running out of time.

_I am strong. You are stronger. Together we would be stronger yet._

Asuka's eyes narrowed. "You'd fight for me?"

Another pause. _With you._

"And how do I know you won't stab me in the back the moment another Angel shows up?"

A lengthier pause. Asuka watched the counter tick below thirty seconds. Another crack sounded.

_I don't want to be alone._

The girl blinked. That was a plea, not for life but for happiness. The Angels were more than animals operating on instinct. They were actually aware.

"If you want to fight with me, prove it," Asuka said. "Get me out of here and alive and I'll not do it over your corpse."

Ten seconds.

_Accepted. I am accepted._

Was that, relief? Joy? Asuka wasn't sure. The next thing she knew the Angel was no longer fighting the EVA's AT-field. Instead it seemed to embrace it, complement it, and light enveloped the EVA.

* * *

The blaring klaxons were but a prelude to the stampeding of feet as personnel raced to their stations. Misato and Amanda emerged onto the command deck together and Ikari took his own seat not a moment later. Ritsuko was already present, having been putting together the finishing touches on an alternate plan. Whether they would have a chance to carry it out was an open question however.

"The Angel's AT-field is destabilizing!" Maya reported. "Wait, it's, shifting? The pattern is shifting! Pattern blue disappearing, pattern orange emerging!"

"Could it have consumed Unit 02?" Misato demanded.

"Unknown, wait, look!"

On the projection the sphere that they now knew to be the Angel's shadow instead of the other way around began twisting. Suddenly a limb burst through, then another. With a rumble Unit 02's head emerged even as the rest of the sphere seemed to swirl around the EVA. With a crash it came crashing down, landing upon the black circle that was ostensibly the extension of the Angel's body in real space. It cracked yet just as quickly reformed, giving way before disappearing into the darkness of the EVA's own shadow.

"This, this is impossible!" Maya exclaimed. "The EVA's batteries are completely dry!"

"Did the Angel merge with the EVA?" Misato asked softly.

"No," Amanda said, her voice of equal disbelief. "The EVA's absorbed the Angel."

The helmet on Unit 02 cracked, revealing a fanged jaw as it gazed up at the sky. The roar that sounded caused carried through not just the air but also deep into the Geofront. The personnel in the command center winced or staggered, not sure just what this declaration meant. There was no follow up however as the EVA knelt to the ground. Its black slid off and the entry plug rose, spilling out stale LCL. Moments later the hatch popped open and a haggard looking girl collapsed against the opening.

"Emergency crews and medical teams now!" Misato ordered. "Ibuki, any sign of the Angel?"

"No ma'am, I'm not detecting any AT-fields at all, even the EVA has deactivated."

"Good enough. Keep the other EVAs on standby for now, but priority is evacuation of the pilot and securing Unit 02. Let's get a move on it!"

Besides Misato Amanda continued staring at the display, unmoving. This was definitely not in the scenario, the absorption of an Angel and its S2 organ by Unit 02. An ocean away Soren watched the same scene through his wife's eyes, his own glowing a soft red. He had but one reaction.

"Huh."

End of Chapter 30

Heh. I wonder what else is going to backfire on the sidesteppers. Though then again I suppose I do know what will in the future. All of you don't though. Yet.

I wanted to give Maria some depth and not have her just be another pilot character. Based on the available information on her, she's somewhat like a reversed Asuka wherein she's polite but underneath it all she's really haughty and arrogant. Any more detail would have required me to translate the White Paper RPG, which I didn't feel like doing. I suppose I could have written Maria that way, but that seemed too simplistic and wouldn't let her have much of an impact on the story itself, at least not this late in the game. And thus I created for her the role you all read above, a potential villain but also a potential victim. Should make things interesting.

Next chapter will be cleanup of the aftermath and of course Unit 04's activation test. The endgame is fast approaching. I'm pretty certain that In Tune will end with less than fifty chapters, including prologue and epilogues. Yes, epilogues. I'm forecasting three, maybe four, depending on how I want to split things. The difficulty right now is getting through the next couple of chapters. Things will be getting really, exciting, for lack of a better word, and it makes writing the intermediary bits hard because I want to go ahead and write out the major stuff. The minor bits are however also important since they establish context. There are lots of threads going on right now after all, which I consider a good thing. A story that lacks a certain amount of complexity becomes too boring after all.

Trying to resolve conflicts and relationships too early is one of the major missteps EVA fics often make. There's a bloody reason it took almost thirty chapters for Shinji and Asuka to make the first steps towards an actual relationship and it'll take a few chapters yet for that relationship to be formalized. Anything less tends to come off more as fantasy fulfillment on the part of the writer instead of a properly characterized development of human relationships.


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Kehrtwendung

Asuka, was bored. Sure the first twelve hours or so after she got out of Unit 02 was great and all, the hot bath and then full night of sleep doing wonders for her mood. And even if Shinji's cooking was not quite up to par with the Maestro's, having a hand delivered breakfast from the boy was not something to sneer at. Besides, if Shinji was prepared to pamper her like this who was she to complain. Even if Amanda spent the entire meal grilling her about what happened inside the Angel.

"I keep telling you, it started talking to me and taunting me, asking questions and answering me with more questions."

"This is important Asuka," Amanda said. "This is the first time that an Angel's ever, well, given up. If we can replicate your accomplishment in future encounters, then humanity's chances for survival go up drastically, especially if the Angels make for reliable allies."

Asuka swallowed another mouthful. "Fine, fine. Okay, let's see, the Angel was definitely responding to me, I don't think it was acting purely out of instinct or whatever. Well, some instinct. Near the end there it kept saying how it didn't want to die."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the Angels seem to think that the world revolves around some Darwinian process where the strong survive and the weak perish. I uh, might have yelled at it at that point."

Amanda chuckled. "So you convinced it that the weak don't have to perish?"

Asuka nodded. "I explained to it how humans can survive as a group, both the weak and a strong."

An eyebrow rose. "You explained to it."

The girl blushed slightly. "Okay, maybe I yelled at it."

"Well you certainly seemed to have gotten the message across," Amanda said.

"Hmph." Asuka placed a hand on the window. "So, how long will I be stuck in quarantine?"

"A few days at least," Amanda said. "We want to make sure you don't end up like Shinji with his infection."

"And my EVA?"

"Ritsuko's examining it even as we speak. She's refusing to commit to anything but it's pretty obvious the Angel has integrated itself with Unit 02. We're still not sure what the long term ramifications are or whether it's even safe for you to continue piloting it."

Asuka frowned. "I made a deal with the Angel, I said I would fight with it. I'm not going back on my word."

Amanda tapped the top of her pen against her lips thoughtfully. "Trust me, the advantages of an EVA with the power of an Angel is not lost upon us. We're pretty sure Unit 02 now has a fully functional S2 organ integrated into it, though whether NERV will be willing to use it is another matter entirely."

"Why not? With it we don't have to deal with the stupid time limit when untethered."

"And an overreliance on it might put us at a disadvantage with the Angel that it really belongs to. The Angels are cunning, Asuka, and it would be a mistake to presume that they are incapable of duplicity."

The girl puffed her cheeks. "I don't think this one is lying."

"Maybe not, but better safe than sorry."

Before the girl could respond the door behind Amanda slid open and Shinji entered carrying a black case.

"Oh, Amanda-san."

The German woman frowned. "Shinji, aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Uh well, kind of," Shinji said sheepishly. "Asuka asked me to bring her violin and music for her."

Amanda glanced back at Asuka who was feigning innocence. The woman sighed.

"Try not to let Asuka take too much advantage of you, Shinji."

"I'll be fine," Shinji assured her with a slight smile. "Besides, bringing her this isn't too much trouble."

For that Asuka beamed a bright smile at the boy. Amanda idly wondered just how duplicitous her own protégé could be, never mind an Angel.

"Well I can't have you getting into trouble on Asuka's account," Amanda said, causing the girl to give her a light glare. "If you're late to school let them know that it was because of NERV related business."

"Umm, is that really alright?"

Dutiful and responsible as ever. Amanda offered the boy a smile of her own.

"I'm the auditor-general for NERV-Tokyo, Shinji, and I say it's alright. Now hurry along if you don't want to use that excuse."

Shinji smiled and bowed in thanks. Before departing however he waved farewell to Asuka, a gesture the girl returned. When Asuka noticed Amanda giving her an amused look she immediately pulled back her hand and huffed. She just knew her mentor would be teasing her about Shinji. And the worst part was she could not even honestly deny it anymore. The rest of the debriefing was looking to be even less fun.

* * *

Ritsuko climbed up onto the platform to find Misato leaning against the railing, gazing down at the heavily restrained EVA.

"Nothing better to do than sightsee?" the doctor joked.

"What the hell is an EVA," Misato responded in a deadpan tone.

Ritsuko frowned. Even assuming she deigned to respond truthfully the answer was a complex one. And seeing as Misato was most definitely not privy to NERV's secrets this was a topic she needed to be very careful on.

"It's an artificial humanoid," Ritsuko said, repeating the official explanation, "designed to fight Angels."

"But where did we get the technology to create them?" Misato asked. "It's a feat of biomechanical engineering that was unheard of before Second Impact. How many breakthroughs in genetics, biology, metaphysical biology, biochemistry, whatever, does an EVA represent? And all in the fifteen years since Impact? That rate of advancement is unprecedented."

Ritsuko grimaced. This was going to be tricky. And where was Amanda to assuage their mutual friend's concerns?

"Not entirely," the doctor said, trying to sound calm and composed. "The World War II era saw major advancements be achieved with the atomic bomb being pinnacle of those breakthroughs."

"And will EVA technology herald the next wave of weapons of mass destruction?" Misato asked. "Will our children and grandchildren live in fear of a biological holocaust?"

The doctor looked at her friend curiously. "What brought about this bout of pessimism?"

Misato straightened. "We're sending kids out there in giant, things, that we don't even fully understand. I mean, who the hell even considered the possibility that Angels and EVAs could merge?"

That was not too much a stretch of imagination as far as Ritsuko was concerned, both were biological entities after all and life always had a way of springing surprises. Still she understood her friend's point. She even shared the concern, to a point.

"Thus far the Angel has not attempted to do anything. It's even ignored our attempts to probe it. Whatever happened when it consumed Unit 02, it appears that the EVA came out as the dominant of this new, symbiosis."

"Maybe that's what it wants us to think," Misato said. "Maybe it's just waiting for us to release the restraints so that it can tear through HQ after its real objective."

Ritsuko frowned slightly. Misato was not supposed to know about Lilith deep within Terminal Dogma, but Amanda had been sharing more and more secrets with the operations director. Why the German woman was doing so was still unclear though Ritsuko could come up with a few hypothesis. If SEELE really was planning on removing the commander they would need a replacement. It would not be beyond them to dupe her friend into accepting the role by playing on her concerns for the pilots. The pertinent question for Ritsuko however was what they had in store for her when they made their move. Would she also be eliminated as a liability? Or was Amanda telling the truth when she suggested that Ritsuko was one of the few people SEELE would find genuinely difficult to replace? Something else the doctor did not really want to find out. She shoved those thoughts aside and focused her attention to the immediate present.

"Well you'll be happy to know that the commander has lifted the deployment restriction on Unit 01," Ritsuko said. "He has however put one on Unit 02, at least until we determine if it is safe to use."

"Safe," Misato snorted. "I doubt we could ever consider the EVA to be safe. But I guess I'll have to take what I can get until we defeat the Angels."

The irony behind those words was not lost on Ritsuko and she even felt a slight pang of guilt. When the Angels were defeated Misato would not find the peace she seemed to now seek. Instead an even greater tragedy would unfold. But then if SEELE did succeed all the pain that came with being human would be swept away. Ritsuko found that thought growing in temptation with every passing day. Maybe then the hollowness she felt inside would go away.

* * *

Unit 02 slammed into Shinji's EVA. The boy grimaced but held his ground, grabbing old of his opponent and tossing Asuka aside.

"Get out of my way Asuka!" he snarled.

"No, you stop being an idiot!" the girl snapped back. "What the fuck do you even think you're doing!?"

"You already know, I'm ending this sorry excuse of a world!"

Asuka ground her teeth, her eyes flaring blue for a brief moment as rage boiled within her. "You damn stuck up brat! Who do you think you are!?"

Unit 02 charged again but ended up crashing into Unit 01's AT-field instead of the EVA itself.

"What!?"

"Is that all you've got?" Shinji taunted. "Who's the spoiled brat now, Asuka?"

Shinji launched a punch, sending Asuka rearing back as his EVA's fist made contact with the head of hers. He then picked up the halberd the girl had previously been wielding and slammed it down.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Asuka let loose a scream of pain as the tip punched clear through her EVA before driving into the ground. She grabbed hold of the handle trying to pull it out but Shinji had wedged it deep. Unit 01 stepped over her and proceeded on its way.

"Get back here you bastard!"

The only response was the receding footsteps of the purple giant.

"You coward! You murdered Misato and now you're just leaving me here!?"

Still nothing.

"You really think you'll get away with-"

Asuka stopped her shouting as she realized the footsteps were getting louder. Lots of footsteps. Lots and lots of footsteps. Asuka looked about to see a mass of green armored figures encroaching upon her. She began pulling at the halberd more frantically.

"Shinji!"

Nothing.

"You can't just leave me like this! Baka Shinji!"

The mass production EVAs were moving faster now, their motions fluid yet feral.

"Shinji! Get back here!"

They leapt forth. Asuka screamed as the first one landed upon her EVA, then another, before finally Unit 02 was completely pinned. Her screams grew as she felt something rip into her arm, then her side, then even her head. Off in the distance Shinji paid no heed to the cries. The boy may not have even heard him. His sights were set on his destination, the crater that held the exposed Geofront.

* * *

A knock sounded on Soren's door and the man rose. He walked over to open it, revealing one of his assistants.

"Sir, the committee has requested your presence."

A very polite order was still an order and Soren nodded. A few minutes later he was heading down to the secure communications room in his usual immaculate suit. Once inside, the green room darkened and the monoliths of SEELE appeared. Next to him a desk also materialized with Amanda seated at it. Apparently she would also be part of this conference call.

"There have been developments that we must discuss," Lorenz stated.

Amanda nodded. "The merger of Unit 02 with Leliel."

Soren regarded his wife. "That has been confirmed?"

In reality he already knew this but officially he was waiting with the rest of the Second Branch to hear the latest updates from Tokyo-3. Appearances needed to be maintained after all.

Amanda nodded. "The Angel has integrated itself into the EVA and is even feeding it energy with its S2 organ."

"This, is unacceptable," SEELE 04 declared.

Amanda frowned. "And why exactly is that?"

"Unit 02 was never meant to possess an S2 organ!" the American said. "That it has obtained one is a major deviation from our scenario."

Soren and Amanda exchanged looks. This time it was Soren that spoke.

"And this is a problem, how?"

For a moment the monoliths hung there in silence as if the old men could not believe what they were hearing. In point of fact quite a few of them probably really were that stunned.

"Of course this is a problem!" SEELE 04 exploded. "With an S2 organ Unit 02 threatens the completion of Instrumentality!"

Amanda sighed theatrically. "Unit 02 was created from the seed of Adam, meaning it never possessed the Fruit of Knowledge to begin with. We were the ones that denied it its birthright of the Fruit of Life, something it has now regained. But without the Fruit of Knowledge, how can it threaten our goal of complementing the Fruit of Life with humanity?"

"It could attempt to reach Lilith in Terminal Dogma," SEELE 04 persisted.

"Gentlemen," Soren cut in. "You seem to be abjectly missing the point. Or intentionally so. The issue is not whether Unit 02 has an S2 organ, you have one undergoing tests here at the Second Branch in Unit 04 after all. The issue is whether, with the Angel still alive, its remaining brethren will make an appearance. If there is anything that is unambiguous in the Scrolls, it is that all the progeny of Adam must be defeated to assure our own ascension."

By now the only thing that allowed the old men to conceal their unease was the blank monoliths they hid behind.

"That is indeed a problem," SEELE 07 said. "At this juncture it seems unlikely that we could remove the Angel without also destroying Unit 02."

"And yet would this not work to our advantage?" SEELE 02 said. "Instrumentality demands a sacrifice, that is also something the scripture makes explicit."

"This presumes that the Angels will appear with the Twelfth still alive," SEELE 06 countered. "If we must destroy Unit 02, and potentially its pilot alongside with it, to resume the cycle, then we will have lost that piece."

"Is that not why you have multiple candidates?" Amanda asked, glancing over at SEELE 04.

Soren made a mental note to himself to remind his wife not to antagonize the American too much. True he was an arrogant prick even by the standards of his fellow countrymen, but they would get their satisfaction when the time came to decapitate SEELE, figuratively and literally. Fortunately before Vincennes could explode again Lorenz intervened.

"The matter of the sacrifice can wait," he said. "Despite the complications that has arisen the merger of the Twelfth and Unit 02 offers certain opportunities. Amanda, the pilot spoke with the Angel while inside it?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes Grandfather."

"What did it say."

Amanda provided a summary of the conversation, taking great care to be consistent in the details that mattered. After she was done a question naturally followed.

"Is the Second Child able to still converse with the Angel?" Lorenz asked.

"We don't know," Amanda stated. "If she were to pilot Unit 02 again a connection may be reestablished but Commander Ikari has demanded a thorough analysis of the EVA be completed before any such attempt be made."

"Wise of him," Lorenz said offhandedly. "Still, what we have learned already is of interest. The Angels are self-aware, but can they change from their nature?"

"Has this one not already?" SEELE 09 asked. "It surrendered to us instead of fighting to the death."

"Leliel, the Angel of the Night," Soren said thoughtfully. "Appointed to give aid to Abraham in fighting his enemies."

The chamber fell silent as the old men contemplated Soren's words. Even Amanda found herself pondering if this was something they had genuinely overlooked.

"A point worth considering," Lorenz finally declared. "We will look into it. In the meantime Colonel, see to it that the activation of Unit 04's S2 engine proceeds without further difficulties."

Soren nodded. With that the black monoliths disappeared, leaving Soren and Amanda behind if not exactly together. Amanda flashed her husband a smile.

"I'll see you when you get back."

* * *

"Huh, first Shinji and now the demon," Toji said as he leaned against the outside wall. "Wonder what they're doing that gets them put into quarantine so much."

"Thank you very much," Kensuke said as he finished another transaction. "My old man won't tell me, though I'm pretty sure he knows. None of his open files make mention of it either, though it does look like Unit 02 is also in lockdown."

"Kensuke, seriously, you need to stop poking in your pop's stuff, you're so gonna get in trouble one day."

"Nah, so long as I'm careful and he doesn't find out, I'm good."

A shadow fell over the photos laid out for sale. "And how much for these?"

The two boys froze and slowly raised their heads to look up. They blanched at the sight of Mari beaming a bright smile at them.

"Makinami-san!" Kensuke cried in surprise.

"Hello boys," the girl said, still grinning wickedly. "So this is where you set up shop." She reached down and picked up one of the photos. "Oh, not bad, this is from the girl's locker room. How'd you manage to pull that off?"

The two boys gaped at Mari speechlessly before quickly throwing themselves at the girl's feet.

"We're sorry!" Kensuke cried. "We're really, really sorry! This will never happen again! Please forgive us!"

"Yeah! We know what we did was stupid!"

Mari looked at the two groveling boys with an amused smirk. "50%."

They looked up. "Huh?"

"That's what my cut will be if you want to keep your little operation going." The girl folded her arms, giving her chest a very provocative squeeze. "And no showing of certain, assets."

"Of course!" Kensuke immediately shouted. "Do you think we want the cops on our ass for this!?"

Mari chuckled and patted the boy on the head. "Good boy. Oh, and I get final say on which photos of me you can sell and the ratio of extra prints."

"Huh?"

Mari picked up the one of her changing for gym. "You've got to properly manage supply and demand. Wouldn't want to to turn this into a common commodity, wouldn't you agree?"

The two boys nodded dumbly.

"Then we're in agreement." Mari pocketed the photo. "I'll take this as a down payment." With that she turned about and gave the boys a wave in farewell. "I look forward to our future business together!"

Kensuke and Toji watched the girl walk off. It was not until she disappeared around the corner that they could get their jaws to close.

"Toji, I think we've just been hustled."

"Still better than her laying the smackdown on us," Toji replied.

"Yeah." Kensuke sighed. "Looks like it'll be a bit longer before I can get that RAM upgrade."

* * *

"Guten Abend, Asuka," Shinji said. "Wie war dein Tag?"

"Langweilig," the girl said, rolling her eyes.

Shinji blinked.

"Tsumaranai," Asuka translated for him.

"Oh, okay, so langweilig means boring," Shinji made a mental note.

And so it went, the two conversing in simple German as Shinji exercised his growing vocabulary and grammar. Here and there Asuka would correct his pronunciation or explain what a word was but overall Shinji managed to actually keep up.

"Congratulations Shinji, you can now speak at a third grade level," Asuka said with a teasing smile.

For all that keeping up meant right now.

Shinji smiled wirily. "Well I have to start somewhere."

"I suppose you do. Still, you sure it's okay to leave the others alone back at the apartment?"

"Oh, we're actually all here this evening," Shinji said. "Misato-san is sitting through some meetings and Ayanami is, well, she's having dinner here tonight."

In other words her weekly meal with Commander Ikari, Shinji's biological but hardly paternal father. Asuka moved the conversation along quickly.

"What's four-eyes doing here then?"

"She had some ideas for tuning Unit 05 after the last battle," Shinji said, "so she's down in the technical department."

Asuka snorted. "Count on Mari to want to make her EVA even more lethal after her first fight. And what about you?"

"Well I," Shinji paused as if reconsidering his words as he regarded Asuka. The girl's eyes narrowed, as if warning him to pick his next words carefully. Shinji offered a shy smile. "I thought it'd be kind of lonely without anyone around in the apartment."

The girl regarded him for a few moments before offering a smile of her own. "I see. Well I don't mind keeping you company, so just relax."

Shinji's smile grew wider. "I will Asuka."

The girl watched as her fellow pilot popped open his laptop. He had shown a lot of class there, giving her an excuse about his being lonely instead of suggesting that she would be the one that felt alone down here in quarantine. The girl decided that she would make it up to him once she was out of this damn place. Maybe she'd cook dinner one night, just for him. Yeah, a nice dinner for a friend. Close friend. Asuka shook herself. The less she thought about that the better at this point.

The evening passed with Shinji alternating studying Unit 01's base code, more German practice, homework, and even some light reading for fun. Asuka did much the same though for a time the sound of her, no, the Maestro's violin filled the quarantine and observation room. As she practiced Shinji found himself sneaking more and more peeks at the girl. Asuka did not seem to notice, focused intently on the music and the movement of her fingers and arm. Her body swayed gently as she played, a look of contentment on her face as she stopped needing the sheet music and instead let the notes flow from memory. The boy might have spent a very long time simply staring at her like that had the door on his side not slid open. Asuka promptly stopped and looked over while Shinji did much the same.

"Hey kids," Misato greeted. "Shinji, it's time to head back."

"Oh, okay." The boy packed up his stuff before nodding to Asuka. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Asuka offered a smile and a wave, which caused Shinji's heart to tighten. She looked so happy and calm like that, even behind the glass window. With another smile he left the room.

"You doing okay?" Misato asked, alone with Asuka.

"More or less," the girl said. "When am I going to be let out of here?"

"Tomorrow," Misato told her. "Ritsuko can't find anything wrong with you so we're pretty sure you at least are safe. They're still running tests on Unit 02 however."

Asuka growled. "They better not mess with my EVA."

"Well technically they're trying to make sure the Angel didn't mess with it," Misato said with a smile.

Asuka snorted but then locked her gaze on Misato. "So. You and Kaji."

The smile on Misato's face disappeared. "Uh well, umm…"

Asuka sighed. So they were at the point where Misato could not even deny it. She looked the other woman in the eyes. The silence did not linger for much longer.

"Kaji is important to me. If you hurt him, I will hurt you. Got it?"

Misato's eyes widened at the girl's words. However her expression became more solemn quickly.

"I could say the same about Shinji-kun. If you're not playing around, then you need to also take him seriously."

This time it was Asuka's turn to look surprised. But she did not deny it either. Instead the girl offered a curt nod. Misato smiled gently.

"Good night Asuka."

* * *

The dinner between Gendo and Rei was drawing to a close, the commander asking how she had been and she responding with her usual stoicism.

"Commander Ikari."

Gendo looked up, not having expected the prompt from Rei. "What is it?"

"Do you enjoy eating?"

What had brought this along? "Yes."

"Do you like eating with another person?"

Gendo tilted his head ever so slightly. "Yes."

"Does cooking for people make them happy?"

"Yes." At an abstract level.

"Commander Ikari." Rei hesitated, something else Gendo did not recall ever seeing. "Could I invite Ikari-kun and the others to dinner sometime?"

Gendo froze. He had really not been expecting that one. And yet it made a certain amount of sense. Rei still depended upon him even if there was a growing closeness between her and Shinji. Yet for her to take the initiative and to try to bridge the obvious gap between him and his son, what had led to this?

"No, right now is-" Gendo began to reflexively decline before stopping. His vision blurred slightly and for a brief moment it was not a blue haired girl sitting across from him but a brown haired woman.

"Dear, please take care of Shinji," a voice whispered.

Gendo's jaws shut tight as those words rang in his ears. Was that an illusion? A hallucination? Even if it was a genuine message from Yui, could he ever hope to fulfill her request? The gulf between him and Shinji was wide indeed. Did he want it to shorten? And if he declined, what effect would it have on Rei?

"Understood," Gendo heard himself say. "I leave the arrangements to you."

At that Rei smiled. A genuine, happy smile. Gendo felt his stomach twist. What had he done? And where would all this end?

* * *

The observation deck was a bustle of activity as the operators of the Second Branch went about their tasks. Wesker stood in their midst while Soren and his team hung back, observing both the commander and his subordinates. Soren's attention was focused on the slate in his hands, the telemetry from various sensors and systems scrolling over the screen. He frowned.

"Commander Wesker."

The other man turned about to give Soren an irritated look. "What is it colonel, we are about to commence with the S2 engine test."

"Indeed? Then why is the engine configuration not properly calibrated?"

The room seemed to freeze as those words reached the men and women at the stations. Wesker turned about slowly, an eye peeking out from behind his ever present sunglasses.

"I'm afraid there is some mistake," he said softly. "The engine is calibrated perfectly."

Soren gazed at Wesker flatly before tapping his slate. "Then why are the numbers here indicative of the original configuration that I ordered you to not use?"

Wesker glanced at the three guards posted in the room and tilted his head. Rifles snapped up, pointed at Soren and his two subordinates.

"I will not say it again, colonel, I am the commander of the Second Branch," Wesker said before turning away. "Proceed with the test."

Soren sighed. Knives slid out from under the sleeves of his two assistants and two of the soldiers were suddenly clutching their throats. The third got off a single burst, clipping one of the men in the shoulder before a quick burst from Soren's pistol blew apart his head. Wesker spun around but Soren's gun was already vectoring in on him. The NERV commander raised a hand as if that would somehow stop bullets as the Soren opened fire. Light flickered as the rounds came to a halt before dropping to the ground. Gasps were heard as the men and women within the room witnessed the prismatic barrier that had appeared before the commander.

"Interesting," was Soren's only comment.

Wesker flicked his wrist but Soren leapt aside, the wall behind where the man just was crumpling. A click sounded as the German finished reloading before he opened fire again. Screams and cries sounded as the other NERV personnel ducked for cover. Wesker pulled out his own gun, at first aiming it towards Soren's aides only to find that the two men had beat a hasty retreat. His confusion lasted a mere second as Soren fired again, drawing the commander's attention back to the German man. Wesker's arm shifted to aim at Soren but the colonel had closed the distance between them. A knife came slashing down before bouncing off an AT-field but the motion took Wesker off guard and his gun hand instinctively jerked back. The reaction told Soren much, Wesker was not used to utilizing an AT-field so he either had never had a chance to practice or whatever procedure gifted him with the power was recent.

Inexperienced though he may be, the AT-field was still a powerful tool and Wesker was learning quickly. A field slammed into Soren, threatening to flatten him against the observation room's window. Left with little choice Soren bright up his own field, not to neutralize Wesker's but to shatter the otherwise reinforced glass. With the way clear Soren tumbled through, only to slow in mid-air as he floated down to the catwalk.

"Colonel!?" Maria's voice sounded over the PA.

Soren reseated his radio pickup. "Commander Wesker has gone rogue, he has put the S2 engine into a configuration that is liable to create an implosion that will destroy most of Nevada. Shut down the engine, lieutenant."

"Y-yes sir!" A pause. "Uh, colonel? I'm trying but the engine is still outputting power!"

Of course, Soren sighed. The engine was an energy source, it hardly needed any help from them to generate power. And if the engine really had been started under the configuration Wesker was pushing for then an overload was pretty much inevitable at this point. Still, he could work with that. He just needed to kill the asshole first. Soren ran towards Unit 04.

"Lieutenant, can you see the commander?"

"He's still in the command center."

"I need you to lift me up so that I can get a clear shot into the room."

"Yes sir!" The EVA extended a hand. "Get on!"

"One more thing," Soren said as he climbed on. "The commander seems to have implanted himself with Angelic DNA and is manifesting an AT-field. I need you to neutralize it with your EVA."

Maria gasped. "He did what!?"

"Can you do it?" Soren asked, trying to get the girl to focus.

"I-I think so sir, but, don't you have an-well-"

"Your EVA can generate a more powerful one," Soren cut her off. "We need to end this quickly before he finishes activating the engine."

Soren was now rising up the chamber.

"If I do this I'm going to need to draw on the engine myself sir," Maria said. "That might accelerate the implosion."

"Then we better make this quick."

A pause. "Yes sir. Leave it to me."

Soren was now level with Wesker. The room itself was now vacant, the technicians likely having fled when their superior went ballistic. The commander looked up and sneered at the sight. The German calmly raised his pistol and opened fire. Somehow, despite the distance, the round flew true for the other man's head. It would have hit too, save for another barrier appearing before Wesker. Soren frowned.

"Lieutenant?"

"His AT-field is really strong!" Maria cried in confusion. "But, how!? I'm eroding it, but I can't completely break it down!"

The frown deeped. "The S2 engine."

"Correct, colonel," Wesker's voice rang out over the intercom. "It took a great deal of time and effort, but I have configured the S2 engine to feed its energy to me. As a human I bear the Fruit of Knowledge. With the Fruit of Life I will ascend to become a god and there is nothing you or SEELE can do to stop me."

"The power draw's spiking!" Maria cried out in panic. "We need to stop me!"

Soren calmly holstered his pistol. From underneath his jacket he pulled out the Thompson-Center Contender.

"It's too late," Wesker said haughtily. "You have failed, colonel, lieutenant. I will lead mankind to its next step of evolution, not you."

The German man took care with his aiming, making sure that he had Wesker's head lined up.

"Oh please, your efforts are futile. Struggle if you must but that will change no-"

Soren pulled the trigger. Wesker's head exploded in a shower of blood and gore. The spent cartridge bounced once on the EVA's hand before falling down into the chamber. A noticeable delay passed before the clink of its impact sounded.

"Wha-how did you do that?" a noticeably drained Maria asked.

"Compliments of Generalmajor Klinge," Soren said, snapping open the barrel and putting in another round. Four left. "Status on the S2 engine?"

A shuffling sound carried through the radio as Maria scrambled about. "It's, still running, and the numbers are climbing!"

"Put me back down," Soren said. As Maria did so the German man switched channels to the general PA. "This is Colonel Reimer. Commander Wesker has attempted to commandeer the S2 engine for his own purposes and in doing so has initiated an implosion reaction that left unchecked will expand to a radius of approximately 250 kilometers. Under Section 15 of the UN charter governing NERV I am assuming command."

The hand was now level with the main catwalk in front of the EVA and Soren hopped off.

"I require technical department personnel to assemble in the EVA test chamber immediately. We have a chance to contain the reaction, but time is against us. All other personnel are to remain at your stations, the base is hereby undergoing lockdown procedures."

Soren turned to look at the EVA and keyed off his mic. "Lieutenant, I need you to rip off the armor plating covering the S2 engine. We're going to need direct access to it and removing the plates properly will take too long."

"Yes sir."

To the girl's credit she did not hesitate, grabbing hold of the chest plates and pulling away at them. Grunts of pain could be heard as she literally peeled away at the skin covering her EVA but Maria endured and before long a red core was exposed. By then several NERV technicians had entered the chamber and Soren was barking out orders left and right. Equipment was dragged in, security personnel were dispatched to neutralize Wesker's suspected partisans, and despite the panic and fear all of the men and women of Second Branch had to be feeling they moved with determined purpose. All of them understood that if Soren's estimate for the implosion range was accurate there was nowhere to run. Not with the entire state of Nevada going up with them. And besides, there were other people in the state that had no idea what was about to engulf them. They needed to at least try to prevent the impending tragedy.

"We're getting the truck down here now sir," a tech reported. "The other equipment is also on its way, we should be ready to extract the engine in half an hour."

Soren nodded. "Thank you lieutenant. Maria, can you hear me?"

"Yes sir?" the girl sounded a bit unsure.

"I'm going to interface directly with the engine. During that time I need you to focus your AT-field on keeping any negative energy particles from leaking out. Balance your power draw accordingly, we do not want to accelerate the reaction. Can I leave that to you?"

"Yes sir!" a firmer voice replied.

"Good." Soren turned to the assembled techs. "Men and women of the Second Branch, I am well aware that Commander Wesker's actions do not reflect upon the dedication all of you share in safeguarding humanity's future. If I am to fall short this day and fail to prevent the implosion in spite of all your efforts, I wish to apologize now and thank you for all you have done."

Soren raised his hand in a salute. The techs and soldiers gathered instinctively raised theirs in response. Inside the EVA Maria found it hard not to squeal. The colonel was turning out to be everything she had ever imagined, and then some. She tried to focus. She did not want the colonel to feel that his trust in her was misplaced after all.

Soren stepped up to the engine and regarded it carefully. The blood red color was slightly sickening to look at, as if the ghost of the Fourth Angel still dwelled within to curse any that dared desecrate its remains. Soren reached out and touched the reconstructed core. His hand sunk in with little resistance. He took a step forth and disappeared into the engine.

* * *

Asuka was happily munching away at another slice of the chocolate cake Misato had gotten to celebrate her release from quarantine. The others had restricted themselves to a single slice but the girl's sugar tooth had gotten the better of her self-control eventually. Once Misato had disappeared into the bathroom for her bath Asuka had immediately helped herself to another slice. Mari's gaze was switching between the redhead and the rest of the cake, seemingly trying to decide if she wanted to emulate her friend. Shinji smiled to himself, letting himself enjoy the amusing scene playing out around him. Asuka regarded the bespectacled girl eyeing her.

"Hey Shinji."

"Yes Asuka?"

"Now that Mari's here we can probably rethink the cooking schedule," Asuka said. "You know, have her alternate with you for dinner instead of having you do it every day."

"Oh?" Shinji looked over at Mari. "Do you know how to cook, Makinami-san?"

Mari chuckled. "Sure. I'll treat all of you to a hearty British dinner!"

"Bleh," Asuka said, sticking out her tongue. "Learn to cook proper food already you Limey."

"Oh hush you," Mari said. "You're not one to judge, Ms. America. Does your country even have its own cuisine?"

"America?" Shinji said. "But, isn't Asuka German?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you? Asuka might have been raised in Germany but she's got US citizenship."

"For all the good that does," Asuka said. "I haven't even been to the States."

Shinji blinked. "What about you, Makinami-san?"

Mari reached over and poked Shinji on the forehead. "It's Mari. Ma-ri! Got it, pup?"

The boy rubbed the point of impact. "Uh, sure, Mari." A pause. "Pup?"

"Four-eyes likes to give people nicknames," Asuka offered.

"I got it from the princess," Mari added with a smile. "But anyway, I'm quarter British and have British citizenship. So at least I'm a proper citizen of Europe."

"I see," Shinji said.

Before the conversation could continue the sound of splashing water could be heard in the bathroom. Along with a very loud cry.

"WHAT!?"

The pilots exchanged looks. That did not sound good. Asuka scrambled to see if Misato needed any help while Shinji, Mari, and Rei threw on some outdoor clothes in case they needed to head to HQ. When Misato emerged wrapped in only a towel, the paleness of her face was more than enough to distract from her state of undress. Shinji felt a building sense of dread as he waited to hear what had so shaken his guardian. He was not disappointed.

End of Chapter 31

Yes, I just ended the chapter on a cliffhanger. So sue me. There ended up being more content than I was expecting and so I decided it would make more sense to split the events up than try to cram them into one overly long chapter. Plus I think I'm done for pushing out another chapter anyway. I want to get as much of this done before my new job ends up eating up all of my time as possible.

Hmm, really not much to say about this chapter. Wesker's actions should have been pretty predictable even with the slight twist. Overall this chapter simply seeks to move along the plot while planting reminders about the various things that have happened in the past. It also sets the stage for a few things happening in the future. And of course Shinji and Asuka are getting ever closer to be an official item. That should offer some opportunities for humor even with all of the really heavy stuff about to hit.

A bit of advertisement, if any of you are Code Geass fans I started work on an AU fic called _A Cold Calculus_ where Euphie is the main character. Well, her and Kallen. Initially at least. In this one Lelouch and Nunnally officially died alongside their mother. I started it because, much as with In Tune, I wanted to experiment a bit with the Code Geass storyline and what certain permutations might produce. That and I'm a Kallen fan. And as should be obvious my working on the new fic has not slowed production on this one. Yet.


	33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Schuld

The inside of the S2 engine felt cold, not entirely surprising seeing as it was created from the core of a dead Angel. Without a soul inhabiting it the warmth of life would be hard to come by.

"Lieutenant, can you hear me?"

"Huh? Colonel? Where are you?"

"Inside the S2 engine."

A brief pause elapsed. "What."

"I am attempting to shunt the negative energy particles outside of our probability of existence," Soren said, carrying on as if everything was perfectly normal. "Once I have lowered the level of particles to a more manageable quantity, I need you to rip out the S2 engine and place it in the trailer in front of you. Is that clear, lieutenant?"

"Umm, I think so sir," Maria said, sounding uncharacteristically uncertain.

Soren was not surprised at the girl's reluctance. The S2 engine was what made Unit 04 unique amongst the prototype series and losing it, especially after Unit 02 somehow gained one by merging with an Angel, was likely hard to swallow for the girl's pride. That however was easily solved, at least for long enough for Soren's purposes in the immediate present.

"I will be going silent while I work," Soren said. "I have faith that you will keep the engine contained until I am done."

A brief but noticeable pause passed before a firmer voice responded. "I won't let you down sir. And I believe in you too."

"I shall endeavor to make sure your faith is warranted."

The pilot's confidence bolstered Soren turned his attention to the matter at hand. There was a great deal of energy being pumped out by the engine, most of it flowing into him. He could contain it, for a while, but eventually all that energy needed somewhere to go. Fortunately he had just the place to put it. Back in secured storage watched over by two more of Soren's subordinates the bakelite-encased core fragment began glowing as the German man synchronized with it again.

The dive this time took Soren deeper, past the broken form of Yui Ikari and into the core of the alternate Unit 01 itself. He had to be careful where he entered the score, the problem with interweaving timelines being that causality really did not like being mucked with. Changing an event that was already fixed could have serious, unpredictable consequences, meaning he needed to pick a point in time after all of the intrusions by the Yui Ikari construct. Wipe out the other score too early and one of the attacks on Soren or NERV might theoretically never happen, but the consequences of those attacks would also unravel. Seeing as several of those consequences were now resonance points for the scenario the collective sought to achieve their disappearance would be a very bad thing.

Soren bypassed the problem by simply going to the latest point where he could be certain this Shinji would be piloting before the entire world fell apart. Then again as he gave the score up to that point a cursory read it was hard to tell if the world had not already gone off the deep end. This Unit 01 did not possess an S2 engine, though how they had managed to defeat Zeruel in that case would have been interesting to find out had he not had a deadline. Asuka was, comatose, her mind torn apart by Arael. Maria was dead, consumed in the S2 engine implosion that Soren was busy trying to stop in his score. Mari never existed here, also not entirely surprising. Rei, Rei was, Soren frowned. And then his face twisted into a furious scowl. Rei was dead, consumed by Zeruel after attempting to destroy the Angel with an N2 warhead. Instead of seeking to save her however this Shinji had used it as an opportunity to knock out two birds with one stone, crushing the Angel's core with Rei still trapped inside.

The cold fury that was always just beneath the surface of Soren's temperament grew until it turned into a boiling rage. At this point Unit 01 was the only operational EVA with a pilot, Tabris had yet to be dispatched by SEELE. Even now Unit 01 was being moved to the catapult so that it could engage Armisael. It was the perfect opportunity to remove the primary obstacle to Soren's plans.

"Eva, launch!" Katsuragi's voice ran out over the radio, a voice that was devoid of enthusiasm or conviction.

This was a woman who was hanging on by a thread, carrying on by sheer momentum instead of belief in her cause. Soren felt a slight pity for her. Not much, but some. Enough that he would try to spare her from further torment at the hands of one Shinji Ikari. The EVA shot up, racing towards the surface. Unit 01's eyes flashed. Soren triggered the ejection command.

"Wha-"

The boy likely never knew what happened. Not that it would have mattered even if he did. The bolts over the cover blew and the next moment the entry plug blasted out right into the wall of the elevator shaft. Half of it splintered as the plug caved in from the impact. The other half got caught by by the ascending pad, ground into pieces as it got caught between the wall and the platform. One could just make out the specks of blood that sprinkled down. Amongst the falling debris was one very noticeable part of the boy's body. Somehow, by some pure fluke, Shinji's head was still intact, having been severed cleanly from his neck. The boy blinked once, twice, several more times as he plummeted down the shaft. His eyelids were stilled by the time he reached the bottom.

"Shinji-kun!?" Despite the very real hell the boy had put her through, Soren could still hear a frantic horror and worry in Misato's voice. "What the hell just happened!?"

"I-I don't know!" an equally distraught Maya responded. "The ejection system just triggered!"

"Who did that!?"

"It, it looks like it was internally generated!" Hyuga said. "There's no indication of an external command!"

"What!? Are you saying Shinji-kun just killed himself!?" Misato demanded.

The EVA finished rising and snapped to a halt on the surface. Time to make his presence known.

"He did not," Soren said, reverting to his natural voice. "I killed him."

The command center seemed to freeze as the voice of the boy everyone knew was dead rang over the radio.

"Shinji-kun?" Misato said, her tone hushed.

"Captain Katsuragi," Soren said, noting the unchanged rank insignia on the woman's uniform. "You have thirty minutes to evacuate the Geofront before I initiate Unit 01's self-destruct. This act will destroy much of the base. I suggest you not tarry."

Misato blanched. "Wait! Just wait one damn second! What the hell do you think you're doing Shinji-kun!?"

Soren willed the EVA to advance on the Angel. If he could drag down Armisael into Terminal Dogma the combined effect of two S2 engines would be useful indeed.

"I am not the Ikari Shinji that has tormented all of you these past few months," Soren explained. "There is no time for a detailed explanation, but suffice it to say that I am as disgusted with his conduct as you have been. And while I am not responsible for the abuse he has carried out, neither is my conscience entirely clean. To at least undo some of the damage he has wrought, I will destroy this Angel and also remove one of the means through which Third Impact might be initiated."

Misato's eyes widened. Despite the insanity of what was going on here she could still pick up on cues and hints.

"You're talking about Adam down in Terminal Dogma."

"Lilith, not Adam," Soren corrected her, "but yes. Destroying it and Unit 01 will prevent SEELE from initiating Third Impact, but one last Angel will remain that could still initiate another Impact should it come into contact with Adam."

"Wait, Lilith!? What the hell is Lilith!? And if that's not Adam down there where is it!?"

"Berlin," Soren said, his reading of this score enough to tell him that much at least. "Now if you'll excuse me captain, I have an Angel to kill. I wish you luck in neutralizing Adam."

Soren turned off the radio and willed the EVA to break out into a run. He ejected the tether, not needing the energy it provided what with the S2 engine he was linking from the primary score. Without it tying him down he could maneuver the EVA with considerably greater flexibility and range. The rotating halo broke off to reveal its snake-like form and sliced through the air towards Unit 01. Soren did not bother dodging, instead letting the Angel slam into Unit 01. It immediately began injecting itself into the EVA, trying to take over. The action however provided Soren with a direct pathway into the Angel itself. He promptly injected the Angel with a burst of negative energy particles. The effect was somewhat spectacular as the matter/anti-matter reaction ripped through the Angel's body. A shrill screech of pain rang through the air as the Angel actually tried to pull back. Soren was having none of it however, inverting his AT-field and trapping the Angel within Unit 01's body.

It was faint, but Soren could feel the Angel's thoughts. The creature was in total confusion, not understanding how it had been so badly wounded. In fact, it was crying much as a child would. Considering the immaturity of these creatures that was not surprising. Could humans and Angels coexist? Possibly, but Soren did not have the time to set the grounds for that coexistence. Besides, he had a bone to pick with Armisael.

The Angel contained, Soren marched back towards the elevator. NERV was obviously not going to let him back into the Geofront so he simply glanced down. Unit 01's eyes flashed and a charred path opened up before him. With a single step the EVA plummeted down through the melted layers of armor and scarred shaft. The sight was enough to momentarily pause the frantic evacuation coordination happening in the command center. When Unit 01 landed at the bottom of the shaft however they all remembered the deadline they had been given. Twenty minutes and counting.

Soren methodically plowed through the various barriers in Central Dogma. The few people he encountered wasted no time scrambling out of his way and the German returned the courtesy by making sure not to step on them. As it was Armisael was giving him more grief than the various lockouts and blast doors barring his path. The Angel was struggling to retake the initiative, trying to override control of the EVA's limbs. It was moving more cautiously now however, aware that if it got in too deep Soren was liable to unleash another burst of positrons into its own body. The burned hand taught best and whatnot.

Throughout all this surprisingly the soul of Yui Ikari remained muted. Not even when Soren brutally murdered her son did the woman make her presence known. She was either biding her time or she was implicitly giving Soren permission to carry out his plan. After having tangled with her so many times the German kept his guard up. Even if she was willing to allow Soren to kill her, it would not be beyond her to want to take him along with her.

Unit 01 now stood before the massive armored barrier that marked the entrance into Terminal Dogma. Soren focused again. The metal vaporized in a flash. He stepped through and dropped, landing with a thud amidst the discarded bones of failed EVA prototypes. Beyond the last gate was Lilith, the being pulsing as its regeneration neared completion. Without a soul however it was just a slab of meat. Soren's senses tingled. Or was it without a soul? He melted the last barrier. And froze.

Before him lay Lilith, but not the bloated white masked Angel. Instead nailed to the gargantuan red cross was a thin feminine form, with all the right curves for a proportionally sized human woman. A human woman with an all too recognizable face.

"Ayanami," Soren whispered.

Lilith's eyes were closed as if she were asleep. In a way she was, her soul was still dormant. Soren hesitated. If he detonated Unit 01 here, if he shunted the mass of negative energy building up back in the primary score, he would certainly destroy Lilith. And Ayanami with it. Could he really do that? No, he had to. This was not Ayanami, at least not his Ayanami. And he would do anything to to see her again. Even kill this Ayanami. Could he?

"There is another way."

Soren mentally jerked back. Yui Ikari was making her presence felt. In fact she was doing more than that. The screaming and crying of Armisael had subsided, something Soren barely noticed with his own turmoil. With his attention now diverted however he could see just why. Yui, she was soothing the immature Angel much as a mother would soothe a crying baby. In fact the Angel seemed to be trying to embed itself deeper into Unit 01, as if it were an infant trying to return to its mother's womb. The interaction was surreal, to say the least.

"What other way?" Soren asked.

He should not have asked, he should have blown Unit 01 and be done with it. But he could not. He could not harm Ayanami, even if she was not _his_ Ayanami. Yui, her form no longer the broken and twisted shape Soren first encountered, gazed at Lilith.

"I will merge with Lilith, reuniting flesh with soul."

Soren scowled. "You mean initiate Third Impact."

Yui shook her head. "No. The Doors of Guf will remain sealed. SEELE will not achieve the ascension they so desperately desire. I will achieve Complementation but I will not bring forth Instrumentality. I will watch over humanity, watch over my children. All of my children."

Soren pondered the proposal. True, the merging of the Fruits of Life and Knowledge itself did not actually require that the next step be the unification of all souls. Yet the power such a being would possess, the temptation to use that power, could anyone be entrusted with that?

"Why should I believe you?"

Yui smiled. It was a genuine smile. Despite all the pain and suffering this iteration of Shinji Ikari had put her through, it seemed the woman still clung to hope.

"Anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live. After all, you are alive, so you will always have the chance to be happy. As long as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth exist, everything will be all right."

Soren regarded the woman. Then at Lilith.

"I still need somewhere to shunt all the anti-matter."

"My, no, our ascension will take great power to achieve. I will accept it."

Soren nodded. He looked over at Yui.

"This has been, less unpleasant than I thought it would be. I wish you the best of luck."

Yui gave him a gentle smile. "Take care of yourself Shinji. And take care of my son as well."

Soren stared at Yui for a few moments. He then tilted his head. "Goodbye Mother. Look after Ayanami for me."

Back at the Second Branch the core fragment within the bakelite lost cohesion before turning into red mush. Soren himself was sent flying out of the engine, his clothes having dissolved leaving him in the nude.

"Particle count is dropping!" a tech shouted.

"Maria!" Soren shouted at the top of his lungs. "Now!"

To the girl's credit she immediately grabbed hold of the engine and began pulling it out. The sound of tearing flesh accompanied the motion and Maria grit her teeth, fighting down the pain. It felt like she was disemboweling herself but she did not stop. With a final tug and cry the engine came loose. Maria dropped it onto the trailer, collapsing the moment the engine left the EVA's hands. The light dimmed inside the plug, bathing the panting girl in a low blue light.

"Get it topside now!" Soren shouted, ignoring the fact that he was still naked.

One of his assistants presented him with a coat and the German put it on, covering up most of his body even as he climbed onto the car. By the time they emerged outside he had even managed to get a pair of boots. Another of his assistants was waiting with a VTOL, engines already spun up. The S2 engine was hurriedly loaded the VTOL took off without any preamble. Approximately one hour twelve minutes later a negative energy reaction was reported along the California coastline. The radius was a mere ten kilometers but caught within the blast was a large Morgenroete industrial and shipping complex. Casualties were estimated to be in the thousands but with no bodies left to identify no firm numbers were ever made official. News of the terrible incident spread worldwide. Reactions followed not long after.

* * *

The meeting being held in Tokyo-3 was somber and subdued. Misato was the first to break the silence.

"So? Do we know what happened?"

"It appears the Second Branch lost control of the S2 engine they were testing," Ritsuko answered. "They attempted to dispose of it in the Pacific but containment failed outright before they got out to sea. The end result was getting several thousand people killed."

Misato frowned, looking over at Amanda. "Soren was there. Has he told you anything yet?"

"We spoke briefly," Amanda said. "He has his hands a bit full right now, having taken command of the Second Branch. Apparently Commander Wesker attempted to hijack the S2 activation test for his own purposes, resulting in the engine overloading."

Amanda was the only one who did not sneak a glance at the empty seat where the commander would have been, had he been attending.

"They were able to contain the implosion and get it out of the base, but as Ritsuko has stated their solution didn't last long enough to remove it to an isolated locale."

"The Americans are already screaming about this," Kaji said. "There's mounting pressure to remove Units 03 and 04 to Japan for any further bringup work."

"Che. First they demand the right to build EVAs and the moment something goes wrong they want to dump them on us instead." Misato sighed. "Typical."

"It's not all bad news," Amanda said. "Thanks to some quick thinking we were able to prevent the destruction of the Second Branch and Unit 04, though it will require some repair and refitting to use tethered power with its S2 engine destroyed."

"Work that I assume will need to be done here?" Misato asked.

Amanda nodded.

"Are we up to it?" Misato turned to Ritsuko.

"We should be," the doctor said. "It'll be a few weeks minimum before it is usable though."

"And Unit 03?"

"All it needs is a pilot."

Misato frowned. "Do we even have one available?"

The room fell silent again. This time it was Amanda that broke it.

"I will forward a request to the Marduk Institute. They should have some candidates that we can make use of."

Out of the corner of her eye Misato caught Kaji's expression slip before his face returned to a neutral look. Something else she would need to prod Amanda about it looked like.

"How soon are we expecting the EVAs to arrive?" Misato asked.

"With the amount of screaming by the Americans, no more than a few days," Ritsuko said.

"Then we have our work cut out for us," Misato said, concluding the meeting. "Let's get to it."

As the meeting dispersed Misato walked up alongside her German friend.

"So what really happened at the Second Branch?" Misato asked in a hushed tone.

"More or less what I said back in there," Amanda replied in a more normal tone. When Misato's continued staring made clear the woman was not satisfied she sighed. "Do you remember Mayumi Yamagishi?"

Misato blinked at the seeming non- sequitur but nodded.

"We did some digging to see just how she got an Angel core embedded into her." Amanda grimaced. "It wasn't pretty. It seems that Mayumi was part of a program run by SEELE to try creating human-Angel hybrids, a program Commander Wesker oversaw."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "What."

"We only found about this after the fact," Amanda assured her friend. "After Mayumi turned up I tried to get the committee to authorize sanctioning Wesker, but they felt he was too valuable as commander of Second Branch. Soren and I still didn't trust the bastard however and so we maneuvered him to be present during the S2 engine bringup. Good thing too, cause it seems that Wesker had been using the fruits of that old program on himself. According to Soren he was able to project an AT-field, just like Alpha-Orange."

Misato's voice was still hushed but the vehemence was plainly evident. "What!?"

"Soren killed him," Amanda said. "It took a bit of doing, but he got around Wesker's AT-field with some help from Lieutenant Vincennes in Unit 04, but the S2 engine was unsalvageable so he was forced to try to get it out of the country. The rest you know."

Misato said nothing as she walked alongside Amanda, deep in thought. Only after they were in the auditor's office did she speak up.

"Are we sure Unit 04 is safe?"

"As safe as any of the other EVAs," Amanda said, telling more or less the truth. Good thing Misato did not ask her about Unit 03.

"So once it and Unit 03 get here, and we get them running, we'll have six EVAs. How many Angels are left?"

"Five, assuming Leliel behaves itself."

"And we'll have six EVAs," Misato repeated. "I hope that's enough."

"We've done everything we can," Amanda said to her friend. "Worrying incessantly over it won't help any."

"I know," Misato said with a sigh. "I just want all this to be over. I want to be able to live without having to worry about the Angels showing up and taking away everything I have."

Amanda offered a gentle smile. "You have a life you feel is worth living again. You should be happy. I know I am for you."

"I guess," Misato said with another sigh. "Thanks Amanda. It helps, talking about this stuff."

"No problem. It's my job, remember?"

* * *

As Asuka and Rei returned to their apartment to turn in for the night the blue haired girl suddenly stopped in front of Asuka.

"Hmm? Something wrong Rei?"

The other girl turned about to face Asuka.

"Asuka. I have a favor to ask."

"Okay…"

"I wish to host a gathering for dinner in our apartment."

Asuka shrugged. "Sure, no problem. Who're you inviting?"

"Ikari-kun."

Asuka's forehead twitched but the girl kept her expression neutral. "I guess, though why? We have dinner with him everyday. Well, when one of us isn't stuck at NERV at least."

"I also wish to invite the commander."

Asuka's jaw dropped. There was no way that she could have restrained herself at that bombshell. When she managed to slam it shut it closed with an audible click.

"Why!?"

Rei blinked. "I wish, for them to get along."

Asuka rubbed her temples. That made sense, she supposed. Rei obviously cared about both Shinji and that jerkass of a father of his, but from Asuka's perspective the elder Ikari was entirely at fault for how broken his relationship with his son was. As far as the redhead was concerned he did not deserve Rei's consideration or help on the matter. But this was obviously important to Rei and Rei was her friend, sort of. At the very least they were roommates and the girl had even had the courtesy of asking for her permission to host the dinner party. Could she really say no?

"Are you sure about this?" Asuka asked.

Rei nodded, a determined light shining in her eyes.

Asuka sighed. "Alright, go ahead. This place is as much yours as mine and it wouldn't be right for me to try to stop you."

A slight smile appeared on Rei's face and she bowed her head. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Asuka said tiredly. And then a thought occurred to her. Had she ever seen Rei thank anybody? Even Shinji? She hurriedly straightened. "I mean, you're welcome."

Rei rose. "You are, of course, also invited."

To that Asuka was not sure whether to thank the girl or bang her head against the wall. She split the difference by offering a simple nod.

* * *

"It would seem we should have acceded to your request to sanction Commander Wesker," SEELE 04 said bitterly.

Amanda and Soren said nothing. Gloating about the matter would not have done any good after all.

"Still, you handled the situation admirably," SEELE 07 said. "You eliminated the traitor and preserved not just Unit 04 but also the Second Branch. The loss of the S2 engine, while regrettable, will be easier to recover from with our assets intact."

"Representative Westmann has come under considerable pressure and criticism however," SEELE 02 said. "We must ensure that that pressure does not complicate the completion of the Mass Production series."

"We will ensure the necessary resources are available," SEELE 01 stated. "The matter at hand however is to ensure a repeat of what happened at the Second Branch does not occur."

"Indeed," SEELE 07 agreed. "Commander Ikari has behaved himself as of late, but he is sure to move against us once the promised time arrives."

"A changing of the guard is necessary," another monolith intoned.

"Granddaughter," Lorenz said formally. "Is Colonel Katsuragi ready?"

Amanda nodded. "Misato has been inducted into some of the outer secrets. She remains dedicated to the destruction of the Angels and will serve in that role admirably."

"Then let us not waste any time," SEELE 07 said. "Relieve the commander and execute him."

Murmurs of agreement filled the chamber.

"That, may be premature," Soren said.

The chamber fell silent at that.

"Explain," SEELE 01 said.

"Colonel Katsuragi commands the respect and loyalty of many in NERV, it is true," the German said, "but there are those who remain in Ikari's camp. Dr. Akagi is the principle example."

"Akagi is not irreplaceable," SEELE 07 grumbled.

"No, but she is invaluable," Amanda countered. "While skilled in her own right, Lieutenant Ibuki is not nearly as adept at the technology underpinning the EVAs. She also holds Dr. Akagi in high esteem and her efficiency would doubtlessly suffer if we made an overt move to eliminate the doctor alongside the commander."

"Do you have a suggestion?" SEELE 01 asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Set the stage for the colonel's ascension," Soren said. "Make sure she will have the authority and rank to step into the role of commander at a moment's notice. We will arrange for the commander to misstep and therefore better justify his removal. In the meantime, we will continue creating a schism between Dr. Akagi and Ikari."

"Acceptable," Lorenz said.

Soren nodded in acknowledgment of the implicit praise behind the approval.

"One other matter," SEELE 04 said. "Colonel, how did Maria acquit herself?"

If the question surprised Soren his response gave no hint of it.

"Lieutenant Vincennes obeyed orders quickly and efficiently. She persevered in removing the S2 engine despite the considerable pain doing so caused to be reflected back upon her. I do not doubt that she will serve admirably as a pilot."

Amanda did not know whether the silence that followed was pride or not. Then again some members of SEELE were more sentimental about their blood than SEELE 07.

"Maria seems to hold you in quite high regard," SEELE 04 said, his tone remarkably flat for what might otherwise have been praise.

"I but showed faith in her abilities and dedication."

SEELE 04 made no response. Instead Lorenz spoke next.

"Faith. It is something that we have had too little opportunity to show in this age. It is gratifying to know that there are those that we might still invest faith in."

"You honor me," Soren said.

"Continue with your duties, Soren Reimer," SEELE 01 said. "Know that of the many you will be one of the few who will have truly earned a place in Instrumentality."

The monoliths disappeared, leaving Amanda and Soren alone once more. Amanda looked over at her husband.

"Are you alright?"

"We'll talk when I get back," Soren said bluntly.

The connection terminated and Amanda was now truly alone. She frowned. She knew a bit of what Soren had done and seen in the other world but he was keeping some details to himself. There was no indication that they were anything but benign but at this stage of the scenario there was no room for doubt or hesitation. Amanda shut down the communications room. They would indeed be having a 'talk' when Soren returned to Tokyo-3.

* * *

Gendo gave the papers a cursory look over. "This is your proposal for Unit 03's pilot?"

Ritsuko nodded. "We can have a core readied for this candidate by the time it arrives."

"Very well. Proceed, doctor."

"I have the activation test scheduled for this date," Ritsuko said, tapping the place on the paper. "Will you be attending?"

Gendo looked at the indicated spot and frowned. That happened to be the exact date that Rei was planning her dinner party. Here it was, an excuse for him to cancel and for a legitimate reason at that. Yet he did not take it. Instead Gendo shook his head.

"You will oversee the test doctor."

Ritsuko fought hard to keep her expression composed. The date she had chosen was no accident, she had wanted to see how the commander would choose between her and Rei. It was a petty thing to do but Ritsuko was feeling more and more insecure with each passing day. Amanda's comments were only making things worse, likely intentionally so in an effort to drive a wedge between herself and the commander. Yet Ritsuko had still dared to hope, still dared to believe that Gendo would choose her over that wraith of a dead wife of his. Instead she had been dismissed without an afterthought. Her anger was only overshadowed by the humiliation of it all.

"Understood sir," Ritsuko said as evenly as she could manage.

She gathered up her papers and beat a hasty retreat, there was no telling when her composure might crack. Ritsuko hurried back to her lab. There was a lot of work to be done to prepare for the arrival of two more EVAs. Maybe if she drowned herself in them she could forget about what had just happened. It was a forlorn hope, as unlikely to be fulfilled as the one Gendo Ikari had just crushed.

* * *

"Hey Shinji," Kensuke poked his friend just as lunch started. "Have you heard? Unit 03 and 04 are arriving in Tokyo-3 soon!"

"Kensuke, you really need to stop poking through your dad's files," Toji chided his friend.

"Stop fussing over the details," Kensuke brushed off his friend's concern. "Say, have they picked anyone to be the pilots?"

"I wouldn't know," Shinji said. "Misato-san and Amanda-san haven't said anything and I haven't asked."

"How can you not!? But anyway, do you think I could have a shot? I mean, there have to be some criteria for choosing a pilot right? Any chance I might fit them?"

"No idea," Shinji replied. "And Kensuke, piloting the EVA isn't fun and games. We're fighting for our lives and it's not easy."

"I know, but it's still so cool!" Kensuke said, either comically missing the point or not caring.

Toji rolled his eyes but sat up straight as Hikari walked over.

"Yo, class rep, time for grub?"

"You'll have to eat without me," Hikari said to her boyfriend. "I just got called down to the principal's office."

Toji frowned. "Something wrong?"

Hikari shook her head. "To be honest, I'm not sure, the teacher just asked me to drop by at the start of lunch. Anyway, don't wait up, I don't know how long this will take."

"Alright, thanks for dropping off the food still though," Toji said with a smile.

"No problem," Hikari beamed one of her own at the jock. "If I get done early where will all of you be?"

"Probably roof," Toji said. "Nice day and all, shouldn't be wasted inside."

"Okay. Hopefully I'll see you soon."

Hikari waved farewell to her boyfriend and friends and headed down the hallway. The principal's office was on the first floor and took maybe a minute at most to reach. She took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," a strong feminine voice responded.

"Please excuse me," Hikari said as she entered. She bowed after closing the door. "Orimura-sensei, you asked for me to come down?"

The middle aged woman nodded, a slight scowl on her face but one that was not directed at the girl. The principal tilted her head to another woman in the office of similar age but with bleached blond hair.

"This is Dr. Akagi from NERV. She has something she would like to discuss with her."

* * *

The Doors of Guf were wide open and those souls that yet remained on Earth were plucked one by one from their mortal shells. Bodies collapsed into the primordial ooze of LCL, no longer needed as everyone and everything was drawn to the chamber. In the eye of this maelstrom floated Unit 01, its armor plates long discarded. Its two arms were spread wide as if preparing to envelope something while a long spear poked out of its core on both sides. Within the EVA Shinji Ikari watched as the world ended around him. He watched as souls both known and unknown to him rose up.

There, Sakura Suzuhara, the little sister of his best friend now all grown up, the one person that had treated him with any sort of compassion or even dignity while he was in WILLE's custody. Another soul, Shigeru Aoba, a former NERV command operator that had looked at him with contempt and loathing when he was brought to the _Wunder's_ bridge. Speaking of the _Wunder_ the construct was floating below him, its form twisted and battered after having tried and failed to stop him from throwing open the Doors of Guf. From it more souls emerged, these unfamiliar to the boy. A pink haired girl, someone that had been manning one of the ark's bridge stations. An elderly bald man that Shinji had never seen before. More followed. Yet perhaps even more telling were the souls that he did not see. Misato Katsuragi was not amidst those souls. Asuka Langley Shikinami was not amidst those souls. Rei Ayanami was not amidst those souls.

"Ayanami," Shinji whispered, the tears he was unable to shed within the LCL of his entry plug struggling to come forth. "Ayanami."

Shinji closed his eyes, unable to take it anymore. He had risked everything, thrown away everything, destroyed everything, just to have one more chance to see Ayanami. And yet he had failed. It had all been for nothing. All the suffering, the pain, the destruction, the deaths of everyone he knew and might have cared for in the past. None of it had been enough. Ayanami was not coming back and nothing he could do would change that.

"Ayanami…"

"Ikari-kun."

Shinji's eyes flew open and he looked up. "Ayanami?"

He could see it, he could see an open hand reaching down towards him. He grabbed for it without hesitation.

"Ayanami!"

They touched, the hand was real, Shinji felt his heart sore as his grip tightened around the hand and it in turn squeezed back.

"Ayanami!"

He pulled and the arm pulled with him, lifting him from the entry plug's seat. The form around the arm was coalescing, taking shape. It was definitely female and even now he could make out a shortish shoulder length hair swaying gently. Shinji smiled.

"Do you wish to see her?"

The smile disappeared. He recognized the voice, or at least though he did.

"Ayanami?"

"Do you wish to see her?"

"Of course!" Shinji cried out. "Where is she!?"

The form was now solidifying and the being before him was indeed female and indeed had short bobbed hair. It was even blue, but a dark blue instead of the pale blue of Rei. Her eyes were wrong too, a jade green instead of ruby read.

"Who are you?" Shinji asked in confusion.

"I have been looking for you. I can take you to her," the figure said. "But you must pay the price."

"Take me to her!" Shinji cried. "I'll do anything, just give her back to me!"

"Anything?"

"Yes!"

The figure smiled. That smile, it was so much like Ayanami's and yet this girl was obviously not her. But the resemblance was uncanny and undeniable.

"Who are you?" Shinji finally asked.

"Ichijo. Ichijo Yui."

* * *

"Sir?"

Soren looked up, his motion as smooth and natural as it would have been if he had not been napping, to see Maria standing by his seat.

"Is something wrong lieutenant?"

Maria pursed her lips. "I just, wanted to say thank you. For everything you've done. With everything that's been going on I haven't had a chance to say it and I wanted to do it before we reached Tokyo-3."

Soren offered the girl a smile. "You are welcome, Fraulein Vincennes."

Maria returned it with one of her own. "Please. You've already called me Maria before. I'd rather you not backtrack now."

"Very well, Maria."

The girl's smile widened and she thanked him again before returning to her own seat. Soren glanced out the window to see that they were above land once more. In another hour or so they would be arriving at Tokyo-3. The two of them were in the giant carrier hauling Unit 04 over the Pacific. The carrier with Unit 03 was a few hours behind them but soon enough almost all of the completed EVAs would be in Japan. The committee had finally gotten around to formalizing the exemption to the Vatican Treaty limits Soren had provisionally granted so none of the EVAs would need to be locked down. Then again if it was his choice he would have blown Unit 03 the moment it touched down in Tokyo-3. The choice was not his however and he still needed to fulfill his end of the bargain. Only then would he be returned to the side of the girl he loved. Only then would he be with his Ayanami again. To be granted that desire he would do anything.

End of Chapter 32

Heh. Mindscrew much?

Anyway, as you can see Soren can be pretty merciless. Psycho-Shinji, as some of you seem to have nicknamed him, may be brutal but he was never going to match Soren's sheer ruthlessness. And now all of you get a picture of just why Soren is so ruthless.

I think this is the quickest I've ever turned around two chapters. Consider it an early July 4th present. After this I'm going to work on content for _A Cold Calculus_ for a bit before starting on chapter 33. I have no idea how long that one will take.

Anyway, drop me a line of what you all think. And if any of you have figured out what I meant about Amanda Sommer's name.

Sidenote: I'm really starting to get pissed at Word's inability to do proper spellchecking after about 200,000 words. So many errors slipped in through the first draft that it's getting really, really irritating. And this crappy HP keyboard isn't helping either.


	34. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Wut

As Soren disembarked from the EVA carrier Misato raised an eyebrow. Instead of his usual clean cut suit the man was in the formal dress of a UN colonel. Not even that of the Inspectorate, but a colonel of the UN Military Command. Seeing as Asuka had insisted on coming along to see her mentor and Shinji was tagging along, his cover was going to be well and truly blown. Soren however remained unperturbed even as the red headed girl gaped at him.

"Colonel," he nodded to Misato.

"Colonel," Misato responded with a smirk.

"Colonel," Soren continued to Kayabuki.

"Colonel." The regimental CO's grin was even wider than Misato's.

"Colonel," Soren said as he reached Madison.

"Colonel." Somehow the Bundeswehr officer's smile managed to even eclipse that of Kayabuki.

"Oh please," Amanda said with a snort as Soren glanced over at her.

"Dear," Soren said dryly before looking down at Asuka. "Fraulein. I trust you've been productive in my absence?"

"Umm, yes Maestro," Asuka said. "But, umm, well…"

"Ah yes, my uniform," Soren said. "I suppose I have not entirely been honest with you, Fraulein. My job as a concert master is something of a hobby. My formal responsibility is as an IPEA Inspector-General."

Asuka's eyes bulged. She looked at Amanda pleadingly. The brunette shrugged.

"It's true. Soren's job involves the EVAs." She smiled and ruffled the girl's hair. "He took the inspector-general gig because he wanted to look out for you though."

Asuka batted away the woman's hand and shot her a brief glare before looking back over at Soren.

"I'm, not sure how I should feel about this," Asuka said.

Soren leaned over. "Did you enjoy our time together, Fraulein?"

Asuka nodded.

"Have you ever felt that I lied to you?"

She shook her head.

"Then listen to what your heart says," Soren said, offering a rare but genuine smile, "like I've always told you to."

Asuka smiled back and nodded. Soren straightened and stepped aside to let the others have a clear view of the girl behind him.

"This is Lieutenant Vincennes. I believe you have already spoken with her Fraulein, even if you two did not physically meet."

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, when Sahaquiel attacked."

"A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance," Maria said politely as she extended a hand. "Thank you for your advice earlier, it was most helpful when I needed to deflect one of the eye fragments."

"No problem," Asuka said, accepting Maria's hand and giving it a shake. She pointed over at Shinji. "This is Shinji Ikari, Unit 01's pilot."

"It's a pleasure," Shinji said with a slight bow.

Maria responded with a nod. "Same here."

"Let's get you squared away with your living arrangements," Misato said. "You'll be sharing an apartment with Mari, Unit 05's pilot. You also spoke with her, I believe?"

Maria nodded a bit stiffly. "Yes. She seemed, rather enthusiastic."

Asuka snorted. "That's one way of putting it. And don't let her sniffing get you riled up, she enjoys getting a rise out of people."

"Umm, okay," Maria said, sounding less and less sure of herself.

Amanda, Madison, and Misato all chuckled.

"Mari isn't that bad," Amanda assured the blond girl. "A bit axe crazy, but against the Angels a certain ruthlessness can come in very handy. Anyway, you guys hurry along home, Soren and I'll sort out the transfer of Unit 04 to HQ."

"Thanks," Misato said with a wave as she herded her charges to a waiting car. To her amusement Asuka took the initiative to offer Maria the front seat. The way the redhead seemed to be hovering over Shinji was almost cute. Oh who was she kidding, it was cute. They were probably still too young to need to hear the talk but Misato made a mental note not to put it off for too long. Time flew when you were having fun after all.

After the others had left leaving her and Madison with Soren, Amanda looked over at her husband.

"So? You're here, now talk."

Soren cracked his neck as he gathered his thoughts.

"I saw what an alternative to the final movement."

Amanda scowled. "I thought we had gone over this."

"We have, and I will keep my word. But having witnessed such an alternative I cannot help but think of it. And of what will soon transpire."

"You're worried about the second," Madison said, her usual good humor absent.

Soren nodded. "If the choice comes down to her or Yui Ikari, you know what my choice will be."

Amanda frowned. "What about Shinji's choice?"

"His choice is his, mine is mine. You chose me to play this part knowing this."

Both women sighed.

"Yeah, we know," Amanda said. "My god you can be damn stubborn sometimes. But so long as you keep to the main score this is one choice that you do get to make. And to be frank, you've done a hell of a job so far."

"More than a hell of a job based off of what I've seen," Madison said with a leer.

Amanda flushed. "Madison! You were peeking!?"

"Hard not to when we can pool our memories," the woman said cheerfully.

"You-you bitch!" Amanda hissed, her temper flaring full throttle.

Soren sighed. Yep, he was most definitely back in Tokyo-3, with all the insanity that entailed.

* * *

"Asuka, are you alright?"

The redhead looked up to see Shinji giving her a concerned look.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," the girl said.

"Is this about Reimer-san?"

"No, well, some but not entirely." The girl looked Shinji in the eyes. "Rei told you about her dinner party?"

Shinji nodded with a smile. "She's been practicing cooking. I told her she was already plenty good, but she still wants to keep at it."

"Has she told you who she's invited?"

"Let's see, you, Misato-san, umm, a few other people from NERV and some of our classmates."

No mention of his father, so Rei probably was intending that to be a surprise. That meant Asuka could tell Shinji and the boy might refuse to go. Except, she could not do that to Rei. Or to Shinji. Sure the boy's father was an asshole but there was always that chance that the two might reconcile. After all the strife between her and her own father had all been due to a stupid misunderstanding and they were making up. She could not deny that chance to Shinji no matter what the odds were.

"Just make sure that you make it," Asuka said, pointing at the boy. "Rei might forgive you if you miss the party, but I won't!"

Shinji blinked but he then nodded solemnly. "Of course Asuka."

The girl lowered her arm, wondering if she had done the right thing. She would find out soon enough, the dinner was coming up fast.

"So what do you think of that Maria girl?" Asuka asked, changing the subject to a hopefully less dangerous topic.

Shinji shrugged. "I'm not sure, we just met. She seems nice enough and Reimer-san seems to trust her."

Asuka frowned. That was true enough, though she was not sure she liked the way Maria kept staring after her mentor with those puppy eyes of hers. The girl obviously had it bad, almost as bad as she once had it for Kaji. The girl shook her head. Did she really look that stupid when in the middle of her childish crush? God she hoped not.

"We'll be working together though so we should get to know her better," Shinji said before chuckling. "We might need a bigger table for meals."

That was true enough. Adding Mari to the mix was already making for cramped seating arrangements, if Maria did join in they would really be tight for space. Tonight though Shinji had dropped off some quick to eat things and left Mari and her new roommate to work out their rooming arrangements. Asuka idly wondered how that was going.

* * *

"So all of you eat over at Colonel Katsuragi's place?" Maria asked as she wiped down her room.

The room had had a fine layer of dust when she started and it was just now that it was approaching what she might consider clean.

"Yep," Mari said, resting her head on the end of the mop handle. "It's more efficient this way, Asuka and Rei handle breakfast and Shinji and me swap for dinner."

"I see," Maria said thoughtfully. "Then, perhaps I could help with lunch?"

"Nah, you don't need to worry about it," Mari said. "We always take the leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day."

"Still, it hardly seems fair that I should be the only one not contributing," Maria persisted. "Surely there is some way I can help."

Mari shrugged. "If you insist, we could probably squeeze you in somewhere."

"Please do," Maria said with a smile. "I would feel bad otherwise."

That Mari knew was a lie but she refrained from calling the girl out on it. No reason to rob the girl of any more self-confidence, she could not have had that much if she felt the need to put on this fake good-girl persona.

"Are we actually required to go to school?" Maria asked next.

"Yep." Mari chuckled. "I heard the princess complained loud and long after she first arrived. 'Why do I need to go to school? I already have a master's degree!' Or something like that."

This time the laughter from Maria was genuine. "I can understand her position a bit though, I myself have a PhD. I'm not sure there's anything the schools here could teach me."

"Besides Japanese you mean?" Mari said with a smirk.

"Well, I guess," Maria conceded. "What about you, Mari?"

"Oh, I didn't jump the grades like you and Asuka," Mari said. "I have already learned most of the stuff they're teaching here, but not that much more. So from my perspective I get to take it easy for a few years until high school, if I stay here after the Angels get defeated that is."

A strange look flickered over Maria's eyes but the girl kept smiling. "And will you? Stay here I mean."

Mari shrugged, filing away the momentary lapse in the other girl's self-control for the time being. "I don't know, maybe. I've met some interesting people over here in Tokyo-3, and it's not like I've got family back in Berlin. I'll probably follow Soren and Amanda wherever they go, if they'll take me."

"I see." Maria paused for a brief moment as she stood. "You must be very close to the colonel and his wife."

"Well yeah, they more or less raised me. And Asuka's like a sister to me, we snark at each other enough for it."

Maria regarded the other girl thoughtfully. Unlike the other natural born pilots Mari really was more or less alone, even her father having passed away. Yet she somehow seemed to be the best adjusted of all of them, despite Maria herself having been raised by a large extended family. The girl put on no airs, spoke her mind freely, and almost seemed happy with her life and situation. Maria shrugged. Maybe ignorance really was bliss. The other girl could not have possibly known what was in store for her and Asuka. They were the two most viable sacrifices for Instrumentality after all. Maria felt a lingering regret, one that she managed to live with. Progress demanded sacrifice and whichever one of them ultimately was lost would be honored. Whether the two girls would think that tradeoff worthwhile was not something Maria tried to think about.

"Say, what is Shinji like?" Maria asked, switching topics again.

"Pup? He's got depths, that much can be said," Mari said. "He somehow managed to defrost Asuka and Rei both and if he wasn't such a prude I would have pegged him for a real Casanova type."

Maria regarded Mari skeptically.

"What? Just calling it what it is. But anyway, he seems to see Rei as a sister and if there's anything going on between him and Asuka it probably started on her side."

"Those two are, dating?"

"Nope," Mari said, confusing Maria further. "Or at least not like anything one would recognize as dating. They are flirting though, so I suppose it's just a matter of time."

"I see," Maria said thoughtfully.

Mari grinned mischievously. "Wondering if you've got a shot yourself?"

"What!? No of course not!"

Mari burst out laughing as Maria shot her roommate a glare. Something told her that cohabitating with the girl would be quite the trying experience.

* * *

"Maya, when's the last time you had a full night of sleep?"

Maya looked up somewhat groggily to see Aramaki standing next to her desk. She had not even noticed him coming in.

"Umm, I think last week," the woman admitted.

Aramaki sighed. "You can't keep pulling all-nighters like this Maya, it's not healthy."

The woman smiled weakly. "I'll be fine Kei-chan, once we're done with Unit 03's activation I'll take a day off and get some rest."

It took some effort for Aramaki not to grimace. Bad enough just who would be playing victim this time but once Bardiel awoke they were going to be in so deep Aramaki was not sure even the collective could guide the scenario along the score it had written.

"Work on Unit 03 alone can't be causing you to pull this much overtime," Aramaki said instead.

Maya shook her head. "There's also the work on Unit 04, we're modifying and installing a new tether system to power it. That should be done by next week, a couple of days after Unit 03's activation test." The woman grimaced. "And then there's the installation of the dummy plug. That's actually been eating up most of my time."

Aramaki placed his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders and gave them a firm squeeze. Maya sighed in appreciation as she was given a much needed massage.

"You don't sound happy about the dummy plug," Aramaki said.

"It's, unnatural," Maya said. "At first I thought it would be great, we could get the children out of the EVAs for good and still be able to fight the Angels. But the readings from the dummy plug are, unstable. I'm almost afraid what would happen if we actually turned it on."

"Have you brought this up with Dr. Akagi?"

"Yes, and she insists that it should be safe to use once we've added in some more filters," Maya said. "I want to believe her, I mean she was one of the principle architects of the system, but I just can't help but worry."

Aramaki's hands wandered up to Maya's neck. "What about Colonel Sommer?"

"I'm not sure the colonel could do anything without concrete proof of my concerns," Maya said helplessly. "I mean, whose word is she going to believe between me and sempai?"

"You'd be surprised," Aramaki muttered.

Maya looked up. "Huh?"

"Nothing," Aramaki said quickly before leaning down and giving the woman a quick peck on the forehead. "Just be careful, Maya. I don't want you to do something you feel you'll regret in the future."

The woman smiled and took hold of Aramaki's hands. "Thanks Keitaro."

* * *

Maria's introduction to class 2A had its predicted effect. The boys were immediately smitten with the latest exotic beauty in their midst, a blond girl with absolutely no hint of Japanese lineage in her features. The girls just rolled their eyes even as they evaluated how much of a threat the new girl might be to their own social standing. Kensuke and Toji saw a distinct uptick in business for the first day before something mysteriously happened to all of their negatives. Mysterious as in a Section 2 operative greeted them as he was leaving the photography club room with a familiar looking envelope, giving the boys a knowing look in the process. The boys got the hint. Interestingly enough only Maria's negatives were missing, Asuka and Mari's were right where Kensuke had hidden them. The two decided not to ask too many questions.

By the third day Maria's novelty had worn off some, the class having seen a steady progress of transfer students starting with Shinji after all, and she was just another figure in the class. The girl felt more than a bit peeved at how quickly she went from new and exotic to mundane but hid it as best she could, pretending to be friendly with the circle of friends that gathered around the pilots. In the process she was at least learning more about them and Kensuke was more than willing to blab about past adventures and incidents that Maria had not been present for. Some things though even he remained tightlipped about, like what really happened with the Eighth Angel.

After school Maria had little time to socialize, engaged as she was in the modifications required to make her EVA operational. Without its S2 engine it needed the tether system reinstalled, a task that was fortunately made less complicated by the Second Branch having left intact some of the interconnects from when they cobbled together the system to fight Sahaquiel. Maria had thought such work would have been the last thing on her plate for the day but on the first night as she was preparing to go home Amanda had found her, dragged her back to the lockers, made her change into a gi, and hauled her to one of the gyms. She was not alone as all the other pilots were present and wearing similar attire, the only differences being the colors of their respective belts. Shinji wore yellow, Rei a green, while Asuka and Mari both wore red. Soren and men Maria recognized as members of the Section-2 detachment assigned to protect the pilots were also present, a smattering of red and black amongst their numbers.

"Umm, what's going on?" Maria asked.

"All the pilots are required to undergo personal defense training," Amanda said. "From the records I've pulled it looks like you were allowed to be less rigorous about following the regimen but here I run the training and you'll be attending regularly. Is that clear, lieutenant?"

Maria swallowed. Much as she knew of Soren's reputation she also knew the very formidable one possessed by one Amanda Sommer.

"Clear ma'am."

"Good. Now assuming the records are accurate you do at least hold a green belt so line up next to Rei."

"Yes ma'am."

Maria did as instructed and watched as Amanda stepped to the front of the formation. Soren called everyone to attention and ordered them to bow. Amanda returned it. And then they were off, running through a series of stretches, pushups, crunches, leg lifts, and other physical motions that should have by themselves been a complete workout. When they were done and Amanda congratulated them on finishing the warm up Maria thought she would faint then and there. But then she looked over at the other pilots and noticed that not one seemed ragged in the least and all were breathing evenly she forced herself to fight down her nausea and exhaustion. No way was she going to be second best in anything. Sure the others might have had a head start on her but she would show them. She would show them that she was as good, if not better, than any of them.

The next day there was a synchronization test. The results, Asuka at 93%, Shinji and Mari at 84%, Maria at 80%, and Rei at 78%. The girl felt frustration well up. This would not stand. She would show them. Oh she was so going to show them.

* * *

Asuka yawned as she entered Misato's apartment. It was her turn to cook breakfast which meant she needed to get up earlier than the others, what with so many to cook for. To her surprise however Misato was already up and dressed.

"Misato? Where are you headed this early?"

"Didn't I tell you?" the older woman said. "I'll be headed to Matsushiro for a few days, we're going to be activating Unit 03 there instead of at HQ."

"Oh, right. That was today?"

"Well if everything checks out. If we run into any snags the test will get delayed until tomorrow."

Asuka frowned. "Wait, today's Rei's dinner party."

"I know, and I've already apologized to her about missing it," Misato said sheepishly, "but unfortunately duty calls."

"Well I guess you can't help that," Asuka said. "I'll see you when you get back."

"And all of you behave when I'm out," Misato said. "No wild parties besides what Rei has planned."

Asuka snorted and waved goodbye as Misato headed out the door. Well, that was one less person to cook for. Not that it mattered much with five people and a bird remaining. Hmm, perhaps she should just give Misato's share to PenPen. The penguin did seem to gulp down anything put in front of it after all. Asuka stopped. Had Misato told her who the pilot for Unit 03 was? No, no the woman had not. Asuka shrugged. Well she would find out soon enough, probably later today after Unit 03 was successfully activated. She proceeded into the kitchen once more.

"Hey Shinji."

Shinji looked over to see his friend standing next to his desk.

"What's up Toji?"

"Umm, I don't know how to say this, but has Hikari talked to you at all?"

Shinji frowned. "No, not more than usual at least. Is something wrong?"

The jock scratched his head. "Well, I think she might have been selected as a pilot."

Shinji's eyes widened. "What makes you say that?"

"She wouldn't come right out and tell me but she's been dropping hints that she got selected for something important and that she'd be out of town for a few days. I asked Kensuke, discreet like ya know, and the dates she gives me overlaps with when they're supposed to be starting up that new EVA from America."

Shinji thought over it carefully. "Misato-san and Amanda-san haven't said anything to me, though I suppose I haven't bothered asking. And Misato-san is also out of town for the activation test. I could try asking Amanda-san about it."

"No, that's okay," Toji said. "But look, if Hikari really is a pilot now, I gotta ask a favor."

"Sure," Shinji agreed immediately.

Toji smiled wirily. "Jumpin' straight in I see. The favor's this. Look out for her, okay? I can protect her from a lot of things, but I can't be there for her when she's in an EVA. Only you and the de-I mean Shikinami-san and the other pilots can."

"Of course Toji," Shinji assured his friend. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens to her."

Toji's smile became more relaxed. "Thanks pal, you don't know what it means to me to hear that."

Shinji smiled back. "Hey, what are friends for? And I know Asuka would never let anything happen to her best friend too."

* * *

Hikari watched patiently the bustle of activity around her. The lack of anything to do was eating at the girl but her sense of responsibility kept her from complaining. She had already read the basic instructions and background information provided to her, some of which contradicted what the pilots themselves had to say about being in an EVA. Not entirely surprising seeing as the people who wrote those documents probably never piloted themselves. Still Hikari was glad that her friends had been willing to answer her questions. She felt a little guilty about not telling them why she was curious, but that could wait until after it was confirmed she could pilot. After all there was always the possibility, no matter how remote the adults kept assuring her it was, that she would wash out. Not that that would be entirely a bad thing.

Hikari Horaki was not one to shirk from responsibility and duty but what little she had known about the EVAs scared her. None of the pilots seemed to be able to answer just exactly what they were and even Asuka, likely the smartest and most familiar with the technology could only say that it was a biomechanical construct. Just how the synchronization process worked, or why it was necessary in order to control an EVA, remained mysteries. Why she qualified as a pilot was also a mystery. Still Hikari had been called upon to assume a duty and the girl would not shy away from it. That would have been irresponsible, especially with her best friends already risking their lives to protect her and her loved ones. How could she run away from that duty and still face them? Unbeknownst to the girl that very quality had been why Ritsuko had ultimately selected her to be Unit 03's pilot. Her sense of responsibility made it unlikely she would say no and also provided a lever to control her. Control, after all, was the one thing the doctor was genuinely afraid of losing, even if in reality she had little control over her own life.

"Well it looks like all systems are a go," Misato said as she walked up to the girl. "Ritsuko says all of the systems are ready and waiting so we're on schedule for once."

Hikari nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Misato asked.

"Umm, nervous, but I'll be fine Katsuragi-san," Hikari said, putting on her bravest smile.

Misato returned it and nodded. "Don't worry, the other pilots have done this countless times by now and we've gotten pretty good and making sure nothing goes wrong. Today is only an activation test, we'll just check to make sure that you can achieve synchronization with Unit 03 and that'll be it."

"I understand ma'am."

Alright, run along and get dressed. I'll be down to get you when we're ready to start."

"Yes ma'am."

With that Hikari trotted off to the locker room. Her plug suit was already waiting and the girl regarded it with scant favor. It was orange, a bit flashy for her tastes and not exactly what she would call modest. She had seen pictures of Asuka in her plugsuit and while the German girl seemed entirely unashamed of how it hugged her figure Hikari was not Asuka and had a more modest demeanor. The girl sighed. Well there was no helping it, she needed to wear the plugsuit in order to pilot and that was that. Reluctantly the girl stripped. Hopefully this would be the worst of it for the day. Maybe.

* * *

Amanda, Madison, and Soren were all intentionally away from the Geofront as the anointed time approached. The timing was going to be incredibly tricky, especially with their need to keep Hikari from getting killed. At the same time they needed the elder Ikari to activate the dummy plug and drive a permanent wedge between himself and the other pilots and thus providing the pretext for their deposing of him. The fact that there were four EVAs, three assuming Gendo was true to form and did not deploy Unit 02, actually complicated that plan. Mari was a very skilled pilot and would see the necessity of causing some harm to Unit 03's pilot in order to save said pilot's life. Even by herself she actually stood a decent chance of winning. If Shinji could be convinced to actually provide her with proper support their window of opportunity might just never appear.

Still defeating Bardiel via conventional means was not the end of the world, figuratively speaking. There would be other opportunities to depose of Gendo and the closer they could delay his outright execution until Armisael's appearance the better. For reasons that were still not clear the score demanded that Gendo survive that long, though the moment the elder Ikari was no longer necessary Soren was intent on putting a bullet in the man. Preferably several. For now though they could only watch and wait. And prepare. There was a reason after all that Kayabuki was issuing direct orders to several companies so that they would follow Soren's orders when the time came.

* * *

Hikari fought down her instinctive panic as the entry plug filled with LCL. Asuka and Shinji had warned her about this and about the fact that she would not drown when she breathed in the liquid. Shinji had also warned her that the liquid tasted like blood, an assertion that Hikari found herself in agreement with. Soon enough it was not panic she was trying to keep down but nausea in her stomach. After taking a few deep breaths however she managed to get control of her stomach.

"Hikari-san, are you okay?" Misato asked over the radio.

"Yes ma'am, just getting, acclimated.

Misato chuckled. "You're doing good. We're going to begin activating the connections. Are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, here we go."

The channel muted and Hikari waited patiently. Based on what the other pilots had told her synchronizing with the EVA was like being embraced by a warm, almost motherly presence. The girl only had a faint memory of her own mother and wondered if it would be anything like that. The plug began to light up, swirling patterns washing over the interior walls. And then everything went dark.

"Huh?"

Hikari tugged at the handles but nothing happened.

"Katsuragi-san? Akagi-sensei?"

Nothing.

"Umm, hello?"

And then Hikari felt it. A cold, dark it nothing like the warmth she would have imagined. A second passed before a scream escaped her. She just beat the explosion that ripped through the EVA cage.

* * *

The command center was in a panic. Contact had been lost with the Matsushiro secondary site at the exact moment Unit 03's activation test was supposed to happen. Information was still scarce but a few on site reports made clear that some kind of explosion had ripped through the testing grounds. The number of casualties was unknown but assumed to be high. Even more emergency response teams were racing for the site and as a matter of course the 597th had two companies mustered to provide support. And then the unthinkable happened as the MAGI's filters were triggered and the displays in the command center were covered with red warning glyphs.

"Pattern blue AT-field detected!" Hyuga shouted. "Location, Matsushiro!?"

"Shit, operations commander to the command center immediately!" Aoba shouted over the PA.

The official chain of command within the operations department was pretty straightforward. Misato stood at its head with Hyuga and Aoba acting as her deputy. In case she was incapacitated operational command fell onto Aoba, the senior of the two first lieutenants. Right now however the organization chart was somewhat muddled by the presence of one Colonel Madison Ingred Metz. While officially Bundeswehr the colonel did hold the position of operations head at Berlin as a loaner to NERV. After her arrival to Tokyo-3 Misato had immediately signed her on to be her deputy, even if the woman was technically her senior. Madison had not minded however, accepting the position with her usual good cheer, which meant right now with Misato likely out of commission at Matsushiro Madison was next senior and should be assuming command. At least once she arrived at the command center. Until then however Aoba was in charge, something the man had never expected in his worst nightmares. He did his best but Aoba knew that he was hopelessly out of his depth even after having been an understudy to Misato for the past few months.

"Scramble Units 00, 01, 02, and 05," Aoba ordered. "What's the status on Unit 04?"

"It's not ready," Maya replied immediately. "We don't have the tether installed yet. If we deployed it it'd be tied down to the catapult pad."

"And be a sitting duck," Aoba finished for her. "Prep it anyway just in case, at the very least it should be able to shoot."

Maya began to say something before nodding grimly. When fighting Angels sometimes every little bit was needed. And then a cold voice cut through the room.

"Unit 02 will remain on standby and not be deployed for the intercept."

The three lieutenants looked back to see Gendo assuming his seat.

"But sir, Unit 02 might well be our most powerful asset at this point," Aoba protested.

"It is also infested with an Angel," Gendo replied curtly. "It will remain on standby unless the other EVAs prove insufficient."

"That may be too late sir," Aoba persisted, "we should at least launch it to make sure it is in position to move in with minimal delay."

Gendo glared at the lieutenant. "You have your orders. Carry them out."

Aoba bit back further protests. "Yes sir."

* * *

"What the hell do you mean I'm on standby!?" Asuka screamed.

"We still haven't verified that Unit 02 is safe to deploy," Hyuga tried to placate the girl. "You'll be positioned on the catapult ready for launch in case your support is needed, but until then you're staying down here."

"That is bullshit!"

"That's also an order," Hyuga said more sternly. "I'm sorry Shikinami-san."

The connection terminated and Asuka screamed obscenities at the blank screen. It did not help.

In his own entry plug Shinji had slightly different concerns.

"Do we know if there are any survivors at Matsushiro?" he asked.

"No," Aoba replied. "The regiment has sent troops to search the area, but they can't move in until the Angel is defeated, so the faster we take it down the sooner they can begin mounting a rescue op."

"Understood," Shinji said.

Aoba actually cracked a grin. The boy probably did understand. He had certainly come a long way from the crying child all those months ago.

"Assume your assigned positions and good luck."

Shinji felt his EVA slowly begin to rise as it was carried to one of the launch catapults. He tightened his grip. Misato had to be alright. If he lost her, he really did not know what he would do. And he had promised Toji. He had promised that he would look out for Hikari. Had he already failed? No. He would defeat this Angel and make sure Hikari was safe. He would make sure all of them were safe.

* * *

Units 00, 01, and 05 advanced beyond the city limits to the outer range of where their tethers would still allow them to maneuver. Rei was armed with a sniper rifle to provide long range support while Shinji hefted an assault rifle. Mari carried with her a large battle axe, ready to take on the Angel in melee should the opportunity present itself, and to keep it off her comrades.

"We have visual!" Hyuga cried.

On the main display against the falling sun a black figure approached. Gasps escaped many who looked upon it. Gendo Ikari was not one of them.

"Maya, are we getting any telemetry from it!?" Aoba shouted.

The operator quickly tapped away at her console. "Yes! The-oh my god, the entry plug is still inside that thing!"

"Can you eject it!?"

More pounding of the keyboard. "It's, it's no good, I'm sending the command and it's registering, but something is tying the plug down!"

"Unit 03 is now designated as the Thirteenth Angel," Gendo stated. "The EVAs are to destroy it."

Back in his entry plug Shinji stared in horror at the sight before him.

"No way, that's a lie right?" he muttered. "That's an EVA, right?"

"Snap out of it pup," Mari's voice cut in. "If we don't take that thing down it'll take us down instead!"

"Mari!" Shinji shouted. "Hikari-san's in that thing!"

The girl hesitated ever so briefly. The tone of her voice noticeably darkened as she responded.

"Then we just need to save her as we kill that thing. I'm going in!"

"Mari! Damn it!"

The pink colored EVA charged in and with a roar Mari swung her axe at the advancing Angel. Bardiel responded with a roar of its own as it jumped, dodging the swing and plummeting towards Unit 05. Mari was ready however, throwing a leg up in a kick. Her foot slammed into the Angel but instead of crumbling Bardiel seized Unit 05's leg and twisted.

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"Mari! Baka-Shinji, do something!" Asuka screamed over the radio.

"But-but Asuka, Hikari is in there!"

"Then go fucking save her!" the redhead yelled. "You can't save her if you can't win, and you sure as hell can't win if you hold back damn it!"

Grimacing Shinji raised his rifle and fired off a burst. The rounds bounced harmlessly off the AT-field but it at least got Bardiel's attention. The Angel shoved aside the limping Unit 05 and charged at Shinji. The boy discarded the rifle, drawing out his prog knife.

"Bloody idiot, don't get into hand-to-hand with it!" Asuka shouted over the radio.

Shinji ignored the girl, standing his ground as the Angel barreled in. It crashed into him and Unit 01's feet sank into the ground as he tried to stop it. Shinji stabbed down with his knife, slamming into the AT-field but slowly cutting through. Suddenly something exploded against Bardiel's back and the Angel roared. The AT-field gave way and the blade sank into the thing's shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye Shinji saw another round zip through the air before slamming into Bardiel. With Rei providing covering fire this might just work. Shinji twisted the knife, praying that the nerve connections between Hikari and the EVA were cut, and drove his knife towards the muck holding the entry plug in place. If he could only just-

A sharp pain erupted in his chest and Unit 01 staggered back as Shinji lost his grip. The Angel's fist reared back before delivering another punch, this one cracking Unit 01's helmet. Shinji toppled over.

"Shinji!"

"Ikari-kun!"

The Angel raised one foot to stomp on the fallen EVA when another round hit it. Its AT-field reformed however the shot simply bounced away harmlessly. It did get its attention however as Bardiel turned to look at Rei. The girl cocked her rifle and quickly fired off another shot. Another bounce. This far away her own AT-field could not neutralize the Angel's and with Shinji down the boy was in no position to help her. However her shots were not for naught as Bardiel suddenly stopped. The Angel looked down to see Unit 05 grabbing hold of its leg.

"And where do you think you're going you bastard?" Mari spat.

Unit 05 lunged upward, grabbing onto the compromised EVA and wrapping itself tightly around it. Bardiel clawed at its opponent and stumbled back and forth trying to throw her off. Mari was not deterred however, slamming her knife into the Angel's back. With a normal EVA that blow would have severed its spine and rendered it unable to walk. The Angel however remained upright even as its movements grew clumsier.

"Take this! And this! And this!"

The girl pounded away, ripping off pieces of armor to expose the underlying flesh before tearing out strips of that as well. Bardiel roared in pain before finally managing to twist its head around to fix Unit 05 in its gaze. Its eye flashed and Mari screamed in agony as her EVA was bathed in a burning light. Her grip loosened and she fell off the Angel.

The personnel in the command center watched in horror as Bardiel gave Unit 05 a good solid kick before turning toward Unit 00 again.

"Sir, we need to deploy Unit 02 now!" Aoba shouted.

Gendo's eyes narrowed. Unit 05 was badly damaged, its leg obviously broken and parts of its armor melted off. Unit 00 was at this point completely unscathed but it was obvious that Bardiel was simply too powerful to defeat alone. Unit 01 however had only suffered minor damage and should have been a match for the Angel, if only its pilot would actually fight. That was easily remedied however.

"Lieutenant Ibuki, activate the dummy plug."

Maya looked up in horror at the commander. "But sir! It's not ready there! There are countless errors that have not been-"

"Lieutenant, I gave you an order," Gendo said coldly. "Do it, now."

Maya held the elder Ikari's gaze for a full five seconds before turning back to her station. Her hands shook as she typed in the commands even as a small voice in the back of her head screamed for her to stop. And then red flashed across the command center once more as Unit 01 acknowledged the command.

Back on the battlefield Shinji was trying to clear his head. The blow from the Angel had disoriented him but he was not out of it yet. As he tried to rise however the entry plug went dark. And then a sickening red light bathed him.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Unit 01 rose. It rose, by itself. Had the EVA gone berserk? But he was still conscious, was that even possible? Shinji pulled frantically at the handles. Nothing, the EVA was not responding.

"What's going on here!?" he shouted into the radio.

And then a holographic message flashed before his head. DUMMY PLUG ACTIVATED. Dummy plug? Shinji searched his memory. He recalled passing remarks between Amanda and Misato, about some kind of autopilot system for the EVAs. A dummy plug. One had been installed in Unit 01? And it had been activated? But by whom? The answer came quickly enough to the boy. Only one person would do this, only one person lacked so much faith in him that he would wrest control of the EVA from him at a moment like this. The boy's voice was a low and dangerous growl as he named that person.

"Father."

Unit 01 broke into a run. No, a charge. It roared, smashing through the AT-field as if it were thin glass and slamming into the Angel. Bardiel went crashing down, dazed at the sudden blow to its barrier. Unit 01 gave it no chance to recover however, raining blow after blow on its head. The Angel raised its arm to defend itself but only succeeded in having Unit 01 shatter the bone. Bardiel looked up and unleashed another flare of light against the EVA. Shinji screamed. Unit 01 ignored the burning, instead pressing its hands down over the Angel's eyes. A burst of light flashed and when Unit 01 uncovered the eyes only burned out sockets remained. The Angel cried pitifully in pain but the EVA was not done it. It plunged a hand through Bardiel's chest armor and pulled, ripping off not just the plate but a handful of guts as well.

"Stop it!" Shinji screamed. "Shut this thing off! The Angel's done for, shut this thing off!"

Gendo remained silent. Maya was already throwing up at her station while everyone else on the bridge could only watch in horror.

"Father! I know you can hear me! I swear if you don't shut this thing off I will kill you!"

The elder Ikari raised an eyebrow. He had not expected so direct a threat from his son but he still made no move to acquiesce.

Unit 01 ripped off Bardiel's head, tossing it aside and exposing the entry plug. It reached for it.

"No, no, no, no stop!" Shinji screamed.

The EVA's hand closed around the plug. It began to squeeze.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Unit 01 reared back. Something had slammed into its head and the EVA went flying, its hands empty. A few seconds later a massive boom sounded. Shinji watched as his EVA picked itself back up to gaze at its assailant. There, standing above the mangled flesh that was Bardiel, stood a gleaming red EVA. Unit 02. Asuka had arrived.

End of Chapter 33

Hmm, I'm on a roll. Three chapters in less than a week? That's a pretty good pace.

I'll be honest, a part of me enjoys it when all of you try to puzzle out the various curve balls I throw at you in the text. Some of the more amusing reviews have definitely been when people tried to propose theories about what is going on with the sidesteppers. For that matter it seems that the more confusing I make things the more comments I get. HintHint. Anyway, no, Amanda is not Rei. Or a variant of Rei. I would have however thought the appearance of Yui Ichijo would have provided some hints. Or is she too obscure?

I might have laid it on a bit too thick too quick with the build up to the battle with Bardiel, but to be frank I didn't want to drag it out too long. We're now fast approaching endgame and soon enough lots of answers will be provided. And heh. Anyone still think that the battle with Zeruel is going to be easy?


	35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Bedauern

The battle was not going well, that much was blindingly obvious even from the limited tactical feed Asuka was being routed from the command deck. Mari's EVA was obviously damaged and Shinji was holding back despite all the yelling she and the others had done at him. The boy was just too kind, but at times like this kindness was nothing more than cruelty.

"Fraulein."

Asuka shot up. "Maestro!?"

"I am overriding the locks on Unit 02," Soren said, and Asuka felt the EVA begin moving. "You have one order and only one order, protect the lives of your fellow pilots. Am I understood?"

Asuka grabbed the handles. "Jawohl Maestro."

"Viel Glück Fraulein."

The channel closed and Asuka felt Unit 02 lock into place on the catapult. She fired up the start up sequence and felt the familiar warm embrace of synchronization. She also felt something else.

_You return!_

"Yeah, I'm back," Asuka said to what was obviously the Angel. "You ready to kick some ass?"

_I fight._

"Good." Asuka punched the launch button. "Let's rock!"

Unit 02 shot up out of the Geofront. Asuka counted down the seconds and just as she emerged disengaged the locks. The tether was ejected without ceremony but the countdown on the batteries remained at 99:99:99. Asuka felt the pulsing of the Angel's core as it fed power into her EVA. It was warm and it was wondrous. The girl began running, tearing through the city. She listened in on the chatter, listened as Shinji got his stupid, too kind ass handed to him, listened as Mari desperately tried and failed to cripple the Angel so that they could try to remove the entry plug, and listened Shinji's horror as he suddenly lost control of Unit 01. Asuka picked up speed. And then she heard the screams, the cries, the curses and the threats as Shinji demanded his father turn off whatever it was that controlled Unit 01. Only silence answered him. Rage welled up inside Asuka. The combined Angel and EVA fed on that rage, pushing itself further and faster until a shockwave rippled in Asuka's wake. Asuka finally came into sight of the battlefield. Unit 05 was a broken wreck, Rei was still unharmed but seemed unable to do anything in the wake of the brutality that lay before her, and Unit 01 was reaching for the entry plug of the crippled Unit 03.

"No, no, no, no stop!"

Asuka leapt.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

And slammed into Unit 01, sending it flying. The EVA rolled over and picked itself back up, its red eyes seeming to glare at Asuka.

"Asuka!" Shinji cried out in relief.

Asuka looked down at the shattered Angel. It was still alive, the red core pulsing faintly and trying to pull the entry plug back into itself. Asuka reached down and tore the plug out. It was still intact.

"Rei!" Asuka shouted. "Get her out of here!"

Unit 00 rose and hurried over, accepting the plug before beating a hasty retreat. Asuka raised her foot and slammed it down onto the core. It cracked with little effort and Unit 03 stopped twitching. The girl turned her back to Unit 01, who was slowly circling her. Apparently even whatever drove the EVA now could recognize a dangerous opponent when it saw one.

"Pilot Shikinami," a cold and Asuka thought furious voice sounded over the radio. "You were not given authorization to sortie."

"My authorization came from Colonel Reimer of the IPEA," Asuka shot back. "Take it up with him."

Before Gendo could muster a response Unit 01 launched itself at Asuka. The girl sidestepped but the EVA was fast, following her movement with feral speed. It tried to latch onto Unit 02 but Asuka deftly blocked the lunge and slammed a fist into Unit 01's chest.

"I suggest you turn this off before I turn Unit 01 into paste!" Asuka snapped.

"You are in no position to be issuing demands pilot," Gendo replied, a true hint of anger audible in his tone. "Stand down, that is an order."

"Fuck you," Asuka replied, blocking another wild swipe by Unit 01 and twisting its arm about. The EVA tried to maintain its balance but a quick kick to its shin sent it toppling. "If you think I'm ever going to listen to your fucking orders again you've got another thing coming! So go fuck yourself!"

The last was delivered with a punch into Unit 01's neck.

Gendo watched in cold fury as the Second Child continued to ignore his orders. He was at risk of losing total control of the situation if he did not reassert himself. That and the timer on the dummy plug was also running down. Another minute or so and the system would shut down by itself.

"Increase the LCL pressure in Unit 02's entry plug," he ordered.

"But sir!" Hyuga protested.

"I have no time to deal with a petulant child," Gendo growled.

Hyuga looked at his fellow command operators. Aoba narrowed his eyes while Maya shook her head, her face already puffy from shed tears. Hyuga looked back up at the commander.

"I'm sorry sir, but I will not compromise Pilot Shikinami's ability to defend herself from an obviously flawed piece of technology."

Gendo's gaze fell down upon the lieutenant. At first it was of disbelief but quickly it turned into anger.

"Are you disobeying a direct order lieutenant?" Gendo asked quietly.

"I refuse to obey an order I believe to be illegal, sir," Hyuga replied just as softly.

No one made a sound in the seconds that followed, the silence only interrupted by the beeps of consoles and Asuka's shouts as she continued thrashing Unit 01. Just as Gendo's mouth opened for his response however someone else spoke up.

"Commander Ikari."

The tone was flat, devoid of anything that might be termed emotion, and was one that everyone in here recognized. They had heard it once before after all, though that time the voice offered inspiration instead of promising doom. Soren walked up behind Gendo so that he was visible below but he kept his eyes on the commander, who turned slowly to face him.

"In light of your, poor handling of the engagement against the Thirteenth Angel, I am hereby relieving you of command until such time as a formal review can be conducted regarding your fitness for this position." Soren turned to look down at the techs below, ignoring Gendo's stunned look. "Lieutenant Ibuki, shut down the dummy plug."

Maya's fingers flew across her keyboard and moments later Unit 01 slumped down. Asuka was in the midst of delivering another punch but stopped herself. She looked down cautious at the EVA.

"Shinji, you got control again?"

"Yes," Shinji said. "Yes, I'm back in control again."

Asuka released the other EVA. "Good."

"Thank you Asuka," Shinji said. "Thank you, for everything."

Asuka regarded the boy. Right now she honestly did not know what to say. A part of her was angry that Shinji had been so helpless and weak, but another part knew that there really was not much the boy could have done. Instead she extended her EVA's hand.

"Let's get back to HQ."

"Yes," Shinji said softly.

Soren watched the interaction for a few moments before turning back to Gendo. The man had recovered enough to now be seething with rage.

"And if I choose not to accept your, position?" Gendo asked.

"Then I put a bullet in your head and cut the Adams embryo from your hand after you're dead."

Gendo froze. Reimer knew. Somehow Reimer knew about the Adams embryo he had appropriated. But now? And why had he waited this long to act. And then he felt it. A faint brushing of an AT-field that his enhanced senses via Adam could detect. Gendo looked at Soren. The man blinked. Red irises stared at him. He blinked again. A cold steel-blue now held his gaze. For the first time in a very long time indeed Gendo felt genuine fear. Soren Reimer was not just SEELE's hatchetman and enforcer, he was a successful hybrid, likely created using one of the other embryos recovered from Antarctica. Which meant he could project an AT-field of his own and render Gendo vulnerable to conventional weapons, weapons Gendo knew the man was most proficient in. He was a dead man. So why did Reimer not kill him now? The man's eyes betrayed nothing. Gendo could not recall seeing any other man that was so hard to read, not even Kiel Lorenz.

"I assume you have no objections to standing down until the review is complete?" Soren said nonchalantly.

Gendo bristled but gave a curt nod. He needed time, time to recover from this debacle. If the German was willing to give him that time, then all the better. He would make the Reimer rue crossing him.

"Excellent. These Section-2 agents will escort you to secured quarters. You will remain there until called for questioning and cross-examination."

Gendo glanced back at the two men Soren indicated. Neither were part of his group of trusted agents, making them the German's pawns. Gendo stood and walked toward them. They did not flinch, that would have been unbecoming for men of their training, but neither did they seem terribly eager to approach Gendo. The commander allowed a smile inside. He could work with that.

As Gendo was led off the command deck Soren turned back to Gendo's desk. He turned on the PA pickup at the commander's console.

"This is Colonel Soren Reimer. In accordance with Article 15 of the UN Charter governing NERV I have relieved Gendo Ikari of command. I will serve as the interim commander until such time as the Committee for Human Instrumentality and the Security Council appoint a permanent replacement, either by reappointing Herr Ikari or selecting an alternate candidate. All personnel are to continue with their assigned duties. Reimer clear."

Soren turned off the pickup and looked over the people in the command center. "Begin retrieval operations for the EVAs. Priority is on the treatment of the pilots." A brief pause. "All of the pilots."

"Yes sir!"

The command center was once more a flurry of activity as the operators set to work. There was a purpose behind their motion once more, they were now trying to save lives instead of trying to end one. They needed this. They needed Unit 03's pilot to make it through this. Otherwise, they would never be able to forgive themselves for what they had let one Gendo Ikari do.

* * *

Shinji scrambled out of the entry plug even before the lid had entirely lifted.

"Where is she!?" he cried.

"The medical wing," one of the technicians said. "And, she's alive kid."

Relief surged through Shinji but he quickly put a clamp on it. Hikari was alive but there was no telling how badly hurt she was. After shouting his thanks he broke into a flat out run and raced out of the cages. The boy moved so quickly that Asuka was still getting out of her EVA when he disappeared.

"Shinji!"

The boy either did not hear her or chose not to heed her. For his sake Asuka hoped it was the former. One did not ignore Asuka Langley Shikinami without repercussions. Asuka chased after the boy and Rei fell in behind her. Mari was the only one that did not follow, or at least not directly. The girl was being wheeled out on a gurney herself and would likely be down there soon enough.

Shinji tore through the corridors, leaving a string of apologies as he passed or bumped into others along the way. Most were quickly to evade the trio of pilots barreling past them. By now almost everyone knew what had transpired during the battle. In some respects this battle was no more costly than some of the previous engagements. But there was one battle that was all too similar to what had happened this day, one where a boy they were growing to respect had his heart crushed by tragedy. There were always casualties in war, that was as absolute a truth as any in human history. The casualty might not be of blood drawn, it might be the death of an ideal or faith instead. This time both blood and belief were the price for victory and more than one wondered if the cost might be too high.

When the pilots finally arrived at the medical wing no words were needed for the staff to point them in the right direction. They followed the chain of nurses until they arrived at the specific emergency ward their friend was in. Outside the closed doors waiting for them was Amanda and Madison.

"Amanda-san!"

"Amanda!"

The brunette turned to face the children, her face grave.

"How is Hikari!?" Asuka got out first.

"The doctors are working to stabilize her now," Amanda replied.

"But she'll live, right!?" the redhead pressed.

The girl would live, even if Hayashima ended up needing to synchronize with the girl to execute Terminus. But Amanda could not tell the pilots that and so pursed her lips.

"We think so," she said instead. "It's touch and go right now but Hikari's fighting. If anyone can pull through, it's her."

It was a corny and blatant attempt to soothe the pilots and from Asuka and Shinji's expressions they knew it. Yet the two were not so cynical that the words offered no reassurance for all. They at least eased enough of Shinji's worries for his attention to focus on another closely related matter. Worry washed away to be replaced by anger on the boy's face and he turned.

"And where do you think you're going?" Madison asked as the boy nearly ran into her.

"To find my father," Shinji said, stepping to the woman's side to bypass her.

Madison was not so easily evaded as her arm hooked around the boy's neck and she put him into a headlock.

"Your father is behind a very thick steel door and guarded by at least six Section-2 agents with shoot to kill orders," the woman said. "You're not getting to him."

"So he's hiding!?" Shinji demanded.

Madison snorted. "Those shoot to kill orders are for him, boy."

Shinji stopped struggling and looked up at the woman. "Huh?"

"Soren has placed Commander Ikari under arrest," Amanda said.

This time Shinji looked over at Amanda in confusion. Asuka sucked in a sharp breath and Rei, Rei actually frowned.

"Well, technically right now he's not a commander either," the German woman continued. "He's been relieved of command and is being held until an accounting of his actions can be conducted."

"An accounting," Asuka said flatly.

"Make no mistake," Amanda said in an equally deadpan tone, "the commander's actions today were, disturbing in the extreme. Almost everyone on base finds them monstrous and at this point the commander's ability to actually, well, command NERV-Tokyo is effectively nonexistent. The likelihood of him regaining his position is effectively nil."

"And is he going to pay for what he made Unit 01 do to Hikari?" Asuka demanded.

Amanda frowned. "And how do you want him to pay, Asuka?"

"I don't know, shoot him! Beat him to a bloody pulp! He had Unit 03 torn apart while Hikari was still inside and if I hadn't gotten there in time he would have let Unit 01 crush her entry plug! That's got to at least be attempted murder!"

"And so you would want to visit the same suffering and pain upon him?" Amanda leaned over to level her eyes with the girl's. "You want to commit that same monstrous act?"

"Wha-No! I mean, this and that are totally different!"

"The first compromise is the hardest. After that it becomes easier and easier."

Asuka and Shinji looked back to see Soren walking toward them.

"Maestro," Asuka said softly.

The German man first glanced at Shinji. "Herr Ikari. I suggest you go and find Fraulein Ayanami."

Shinji's eyes widened as he looked around. Rei had slipped away unnoticed sometime during his and Asuka's yelling. This time when he tried to separate himself from her Madison did not resist and released the boy. He quickly ran off calling Rei's name. Soren paid the boy no further mind and looked over at Asuka.

"Have you ever killed a person, Fraulein?" Soren asked.

Asuka fidgeted under the gaze but knew that Soren would wait until she answered. "No." The girl frowned. "Well, not intentionally."

Soren nodded, understanding what the girl was inferring. "And how did you feel about that?"

Another hesitant answer. "Really bad."

"And how would you feel if I were to shoot the Herr Kommandant?"

"Nothing," Asuka replied immediately.

Soren leaned over to look the girl straight in the eyes. "So what do you think will happen the next time your actions cause something to die?"

Asuka flinched. Then she took a deep breath. "I would become less sensitive."

Soren straightened. "Never forget Fraulein, that once gone life is not something that can be given back so easily."

"Yes Maestro," Asuka said sullenly.

The German man nodded and turned to leave.

"Maestro!"

He stopped and glanced back. Asuka clicked her heels together and raised a hand in salute.

"Thank you. For sending me out there."

Soren said nothing at first. Then he offered a nod and resumed his walk. Rolling past him was Mari on a gurney, clutching her leg with a brooding look. Her other friend here Asuka fell in alongside the girl to see how she was doing. That at least the girl could do without any sense of guilt.

* * *

"Ayanami!"

Rei froze as the boy's cry reached her but she did not turn around. The sound of panting was soon behind her and yet she still faced away.

"Ayanami," Shinji said as he caught his breath. "Where are you going?"

The girl said nothing. Not because she did not want to answer but because she could not answer. She simply did not know where she was trying to get to and so she remained silent.

"Ayanami," Shinji said as he approached her.

"The dinner," Ayanami muttered softly.

Shinji slowed, looking at the girl in confusion. "I-I'm sorry we weren't able to hold it tonight. But, we can reschedule! After Hikari gets out of the hospital, we can invite her too! Everyone can be there!"

The girl flinched and Shinji shut his mouth. He had said something wrong, something very, very wrong. Rei remained silent, making no response.

"Ayanami?" Shinji finally said softly.

"Your father."

Shinji felt a spike of anger but fought it down. He hated his father yes, but for so many years, those years where his father was not there for him, Gendo Ikari had been there for Rei. He did not hate her for it, perhaps he should, but knowing that she was his sister and that she too had lost a mother meant he could not hate her for it. And because he could not hate her for having received the attention and affection denied him, he could not hate her for still holding some affection for that man.

"What about him?" Shinji asked, trying to keep his voice as even as possible.

"I invited him to the dinner," Rei said softly.

Shinji drew a sharp breath. The word that came next was a mere rasp.

"What?"

"He accepted," Rei continued, her own voice growing quieter and quieter.

Shinji froze. Rei's words crashed into him and his mind struggled to grasp what it all meant. Rei had invited his father to her dinner. His father had accepted. She had tried to bring his father and him together for dinner. She had wanted his father and him to be together. And his father had agreed. Anger warred with confusion. The same man that had nearly murdered Hikari had been willing to make an effort to be in the same room as him outside of their respective duties as NERV commander and EVA pilot. And there was a part of Shinji that before all this happened would have honestly wanted to be there, to try to reach out to the man. Why had his father been willing to make the effort? Because Rei had asked him? Did it matter that he was doing this more for Rei than for him?

Shinji shook himself. That did not matter anymore. At this point there was nothing that could ever redeem his father in the boy's eyes, nothing that could ever get him to see his father as a genuine father, someone who he would acknowledge as a parent in anything more than the biological sense. No, that did not matter. What mattered was that Rei was prepared to do all this for him. That she had been hurting because of the turmoil between his father and him. And he had let that turmoil grow until Rei, Rei felt the need to act. Shinji stepped over to behind the girl. He reached out and wrapped her arms around her, feeling the trembling as he pulled the girl into an embrace.

"Thank you Ayanami," Shinji said. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry," Rei said softly. "I couldn't do anything."

"It's fine," Shinji replied. "Everything's fine now."

Shinji Ikari may no longer have had a father, but he would not lose his sister.

* * *

"Maya?"

The woman nearly jumped at hearing her name and spun around in a flurry.

"Oh, Keitaro," the said, sighing in relief before sinking back into her seat again.

Her eyes were haunted and her face pale. Keitaro grimaced and took hold of Maya by the shoulders and pulled her up.

"Huh?"

Maya blinked in confusion as Keitaro turned her about and gazed into her eyes. "Listen to me Maya, what happened was not your fault."

"But it was!" the woman protested. "I was the one that issued the command! I could have been like Makoto-san and refused to obey the order but I didn't!"

"Did you know the dummy plug would go out of control like that?" Keitaro pressed.

Maya's mouth opened and closed but no sounds came out.

"You didn't," Keitaro answered for her. "You had no idea that the dummy plug would react that way and you aren't at fault for what it did."

"But-but I…"

Maya had already cried over the disaster but there were still more tears to shed. They streaked down her cheeks and Keitaro gently wiped them away.

"Maya, you aren't at fault," Keitaro said. "The pilots won't hold a grudge, and they'll continue to trust you. So trust in yourself, please."

The woman let her boyfriend hold her tight, finding comfort in the closeness. Keitaro caressed his girlfriend's back, providing a strong form to lean against. He hated seeing her like this, hated how much she was hurting right now. But he was also here for her right now, able to offer her at least some comfort. He hoped it would make up for how much he would end up hurting her in the end when the collective initiated its endgame. That was a big reason why they had established the rule of no attachments to the people of this score. It was a rule he was guilty of breaking, almost accidentally at that, and he had found himself incapable of breaking off from the young woman in his arms. The others let it slide, knowing that the pain he would endure when everything came to fruition would be punishment enough. But that was still in the future and right here, right now, he could be there for her. And so he held her until her tears ran dry.

* * *

A dull throbbing pain greeted Misato as she awoke. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself in a hospital bed. Someone had changed her into a standard hospital gown and her right arm was fixed in a sling. She tried to rise but pain shot through her chest and the woman gave up.

"Katsuragi," a soft voice said.

Misato turned her head slightly to see a gently smiling Kaji by her bedside.

"Kaji," she whispered.

The man sighed in relief and stroked her hair. "I'm glad you're awake."

"The-the pilot," Misato began.

"She's alive," Kaji assured her. "They're treating her right now."

This time it was Misato's turn to sigh in relief. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy Kaji's caress for a few moments.

"What happened?" Misato asked.

Kaji's hand stopped. "An Angel took over Unit 03."

Misato's eyes few open and she looked over at Kaji again. Her neck protested the sudden movement but Misato did not care. She started at Kaji, pressing him to continue.

"The EVAs were deployed to intercept it," the man obliged. "Commander Ikari seemed to think Shinji-kun was holding back too much to avoid hurting the other pilot, so he activated the dummy plug. Unit 01 ripped the other EVA to shreds."

Misato's breathing quickened.

"Soren intervened though," Kaji said quickly. "He overrode the lockout on Unit 02 and deployed Asuka. She got there just in time to stop Unit 01 from destroying the entry plug. She pulled it out, handed it to Rei, and then stalled Unit 01 long enough for Soren to get to the command center and, well, fire Ikari."

The woman's left hand began grasping at the edge of her bed and Kaji quickly took hold of it, returning the squeeze.

"That bastard," Misato said, her face twisted with grief and anger. "He doesn't care, he doesn't care about his son or any of the pilots or any other human being. How could we have followed a man like that for so long?"

"He's out of the picture now," Kaji said firmly. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. All you need to focus on is resting and recovering. Shinji-kun still needs you after all."

Grief overwhelmed the fragments of anger. "Oh god, what am I going to say to him? I didn't even tell him who the pilot was."

As Misato began sobbing Kaji leaned down and gently wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her up carefully, embracing the woman he loved as he tried to soothe her pain and guilt.

"He's not angry with you," Kaji tried to reassure her. "He was in here earlier, asking about how you were. See? He's worried, he's not angry."

"I'm supposed to be his mother now, but I can't even do anything for him," Misato said, her voice cracking. "I can't, I can't face him like this."

"Then face him as the woman he were," Kaji said. "Face him as the mother he accepted you as. I know you can do it Katsuragi, and I'll be right there with you."

Misato buried her face in Kaji's chest and let the tears flow. She hurt, not just her body but also her heart. It was just too much. The insecurities and fear that she had pretended did not exist had finally burst and now she had no idea what to do. But right now she did not need to do anything. Right now she could sit there in the arms of the man she loved and let him help shoulder some of her pain. And so Misato cried even as she draped her good arm across Kaji's back to pull him closer. Kaji responded by tightening his own grip, letting Misato press against him as she let out all her anguish and pain.

* * *

For an executive meeting the conference room was tellingly lacking in the heads of two departments. Ritsuko was awake but confined to bed, grumpily at that, while Misato was working up her nerve with Kaji's help. That left their respective understudies waiting to report to the man who would once again take the seat at the head of the table. Interestingly Fuyutsuki was also present, apparently retaining as position as vice-commander despite his friend's dismissal.

The door slid open and Soren entered. The men and women began to rise.

"Stay where you are," Soren said, prompting them to sit back down as he walked around the table to the head. Once there he swept his gaze across the assembled before stopping at one particular seat. "Dr. Ibuki, are you feeling better?"

Maya blushed slightly at the attention but nodded. "Yes, thank you Colonel Reimer."

Soren nodded in return and his eyes fell to another seat. "Lieutenant Hyuga."

"Yes!" the man said, nearly bolting back up.

"The moral courage you demonstrated yesterday was exemplary. I trust you will continue to hold yourself to that standard throughout the remainder of your service."

"Yes sir!" Hyuga said firmly.

Finished with his diversions Soren took a seat.

"Let us not waste any time. Dr. Ibuki, what is the current status of our EVAs? All of them please."

"Yes," Maya said, glancing down at her notes. "Units 00 and 02 are undamaged and ready for immediate deployment should the need arise. Unit 01 suffered some buckling of its armor, that should be resolved within the next day. The installation of Unit 04's tether should also be complete within the next day or so at which point it can be deployed for actual combat. Unit 05's leg will require regeneration, estimated time is currently one week minimum. And, Unit 03, is theoretically salvageable, but regrowth of its, components, would take months."

"Is Unit 03 clear of any further infection?" Soren asked.

"We, believe so," Maya said hesitantly.

"Strip it for parts then," Soren ordered. "Use its leg to repair Unit 05's. We need usable EVAs as quickly as possible. At this point Unit 03 is useless to us even if we had the time to regenerate it."

The woman blinked before nodding. "Yes sir."

"Lieutenant Aoba," Soren said, moving on, "status on the city's defenses?"

"Almost all of the city's fixed defenses have been restored since the battle against Ramiel," Aoba replied. "At this point we are at 93% readiness."

"And the positron cannon?"

"Status nominal," Hyuga took that one. "It's fully charged and ready to fire the moment we need it. We've also worked out a considerably faster switchover protocol for the power grid, it should take no more than thirty minutes for fire rate to become cooling limited instead of power limited."

"Good," Soren said before looking at his wife. "Colonel Sommer." Apparently when on duty everything was strictly professional. "Status on our kids." Kids. Our kids, not just kids. And kids instead of pilots. So perhaps not completely professional.

"Mari is already up and about," Amanda said. "The damage to her EVA hasn't really slowed her down much. Hikari however…"

No one made any noise was they waited for the auditor to continue.

"The doctors had to amputate her right arm," Amanda finally said, her voice barely a whisper. "And they're fairly certain she's paralyzed from the waist down."

Grimaces and distraught looks appeared and even Fuyutsuki looked disturbed. Soren however remained his stoic self, at least on the surface.

"I see," his own voice deathly quiet. "Has her family been notified?"

Amanda nodded. "I spoke with her father. He's been dropping in and out of the recovery ward. I told him he could take the next few days off to be with her, but he's insisting in pulling his shifts." Amanda shrugged. "I think he's using his work to avoid being overwhelmed by his grief."

Soren glanced over at another woman. "Dr. Hayashima?"

"I will speak with him," the doctor said, "as well with Hikari-san's siblings. And her boyfriend."

"Speaking of which, Asuka's been pressing to let him down here to see her," Amanda said, shaking her head as if in disbelief. "Should we authorize it?"

Soren thought it over. "How long before the doctors expect her to wake?"

"They're keeping her sedated for now," Amanda said. "They don't want to try bringing her out for at least two or three more days."

"We wait until after that then."

Amanda nodded.

"I know it's been a difficult two days," Soren said to all of them. "Morale is low and we're all questioning if we're doing the right thing, continuing to use the EVAs and these children to pilot them. But the threat the Angels represent has not gone away. The choice before us is either continue to employ the EVAs or accept extinction. Some of you, looking at what these things have cost us already, may think that extinction would be preferable to increasing the magnitude for our sin. Remember this however, atonement can only be achieved if we live. Death does not buy us forgiveness of from the acts that we have already committed."

The men and women around the table all nodded somberly, safe for Fuyutsuki. The old man instead regarded Soren with a wary eye as if not convinced that the German meant anything he was saying. Soren however paid no mind to Fuyutsuki's gaze.

"Dismissed," the man said.

The assembled stood and streamed toward the exit.

"Herr Fuyutsuki."

The old man stopped and turned to Soren.

"A word."

Letting out a sigh Fuyutsuki returned to the tableside but did not sit. Neither man said a thing until the door slid shut after the last person leaving.

"Are you still Herr Ikari's man, Herr Doktor?"

Fuyutsuki grimaced. "Would you believe any answer I give?"

Soren crossed a leg and leaned back into his chair. "I find it interesting, the way you have gone about honoring the request of the late Frau Doktor."

The old man narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Yui Ikari asked you to look after her husband and son. After her merging with Unit 01 you did nothing when Herr Ikari sent his son away. Since Shinji's return you have continued to make no effort in helping father and son bridge the distance between them. One might think you almost want those that Frau Ikari held dearest to suffer. Revenge, perhaps, for her not returning your own affection?"

By this point Fuyutsuki was as still as a statue as he regarded Soren. The man's accusation cut deeply, made all the worse by how it laid out all his own self-doubt. That it was done so casually caused a boiling anger to rise within Fuyutsuki.

"What do you want."

"A straight answer would be a start," Soren replied, "instead of indirect wordplay about what I would or would not believe."

Fuyutsuki glowered at the German and as a former teacher he knew well how to instill a sense of fear and shame in others. Yet Soren remained his composed self, seemingly having no trouble staring him down. As if Fuyutsuki needed any further confirmation of his inhumanity. But that still left a question to be answered. Somewhat needlessly in the former professor's opinion. Regardless of what he said the German was likely to arrange for his death in due time. SEELE did not leave loose ends lying around, ever.

"I stand by Ikari as Yui asked me to," he stated.

The German continued regarding Fuyutsuki silently for a few more seconds.

"You are dismissed, Herr Doktor," he finally said.

Fuyutsuki frowned but said nothing further. He turned and headed for the exit. The old man was still not sure what to make of the conversation. Had he signed his own death warrant? Or had Reimer dismissed him as any sort of real threat? Only time would tell, what little there was left for all of them.

* * *

Ritsuko was a bit unsteady on her feet but she was up and about despite the protests of the doctors. Or rather other doctors, seeing as she herself did hold medical qualifications. As it was however Amanda had approved her request to return to active duty and the woman was trying drown her emotions in work. SEELE had finally done it, they had removed Gendo from command of NERV. Or more accurately her supposed friends Amanda and Soren had done it. Looking back it was so obvious what Amanda was doing, earning the respect and even admiration of the rank and file while painting the commander in a negative light. No, that last part was not really Amanda's doing. Gendo himself had not exactly engendered much respect and trust amongst NERV personnel. A certain amount of fear, yes, but fear only went so far and the moment people felt a ray of hope they would abandon their previous allegiance without hesitation. The German couple had simply used Gendo's own conduct against him and they were now in control of NERV, which meant they were in a position to do away with her as well if they felt she was a liability.

That was another reason to keep busy, to look like she was toeing the line and would be an obedient little pawn for Amanda and Soren's true masters. She was still the foremost living expert on EVA technology and the MAGI and so long as she demonstrated her usefulness they would likely let her live. Hell they might even let her live long enough to join humanity in Instrumentality. SEELE would certainly consider that to be reward enough for the doctor and Ritsuko could even see the appeal at this point. No more regrets, no more complicated emotions about other people, just the pure bliss of nothingness. The doctor sighed. She just needed to hang on a bit longer and it all would end.

A knock sounded against the wall and Ritsuko looked up. She almost succeeded in keeping the grimace from reaching her face.

"I thought I told you to take things slowly," Amanda chided.

"I am," Ritsuko replied, waving at the ashtray. "See? Only one cigarette today so far."

That had been nearly as hard on her as her injuries. The nicotine craving was starting to make her jumpy and she was this close to caving in and lighting up another cigarette.

Amanda walked over to the desk and leaned against it. "Something tells me you're pushing yourself to avoid thinking too hard about other things."

Ritsuko grimaced. Count on Amanda to drag out her demons.

"I'll be fine," Ritsuko said moodily. "I can keep up with my work and you won't see any decrease in efficiency. Can we just leave it at that?"

Amanda's hand suddenly shot down and caught hold of Ritsuko's. The woman started in surprise but then saw that she had been unconsciously reaching for the pack of cigarettes. So much for her self-control.

"You're not fine," Amanda said, "and I think it's time we finished our little talk."

"Is this really the time for it?" Ritsuko protested.

"Yes," Amanda replied firmly. "You're probably thinking that I want to have this talk to ensure your obedience and that you're not going to try anything drastic like blow up HQ."

Now there was an idea, Ritsuko mused. And she even knew how she could pull it off. But she was not quite there yet. Yet.

"Assuming of course you could override the locks I've added to the MAGI."

Yet. Maybe she would never get there. But then again Amanda might be a bit too overconfident about her ability to keep Ritsuko from taking control of the supercomputer her mother designed and built.

"Look Ritsuko, I know that you've had some mixed feelings about me and Soren ever since you found out about my family history. I can even understand why, SEELE isn't exactly a welcoming and kind group of old men. But I'm not my grandfather, I'm me, and I considered you a friend back in university and I consider you one now, which is why I do not like seeing you tearing yourself apart for a man that doesn't appreciate you and will never offer you the affection you want and deserve."

Ritsuko flinched as if Amanda had just slapped her. The German woman had dropped insinuations to this effect before but this was the first time she was so blunt with her opinion about Ritsuko's relationship with the commander.

"So what do you want me to do, go out and try to find some other man that will appreciate me? Do you think all of us can be so lucky and find someone like Soren?"

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever tried?"

"What?"

"Exactly what I said. Have you actually ever tried to hook up with someone else? Or did you just settle for Ikari after the first time he seduced you?"

The doctor's hands tightened into fists. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about," Amanda stated. "You always had trouble trying to understand what goes on in a relationship between a man and a woman. You couldn't understand why Ryoji and Misato would skip an entire week of school just to have sex. And because you didn't understand, you were actually relieved when Ikari approached you and offered you what you thought was genuine affection. Except that deep down you knew all along it was a lie, but since you still couldn't grasp just what was so wrong about the lie you kept going back for more."

"Shut up," Ritsuko growled.

"No."

"Shut up!" the woman screamed and shot up.

In retrospect presenting a potential physical advance on Amanda was probably a really stupid idea. The woman was a black belt in karate after all whereas Ritsuko was only mildly fit from her swimming hobby. As it was the doctor did not even realize her face was slammed against the desk until she was already pinned. Everything else had been a complete blur.

"I don't care whether you're still as efficient as you were before Ikari's arrest," Amanda said calmly. "I don't even care if you decide to quite entirely and leave NERV. What I do care is that you stop throwing away your own life for the sake of someone who's been using you for all these years and will never treat you with the dignity and affection you deserve."

"Why do you care so much," Ritsuko hissed.

"Because I'm your goddamn friend," Amanda said, releasing the doctor. "I've always been your friend, and I would like to think that you still think of me as one."

Ritsuko rubbed her arms where Amanda had grabbed her. The woman's grip was not to be trifled with.

"But why?" Ritsuko asked more calmly. "What makes you go through so much trouble, why do you think our, friendship, is worth all this?"

Amanda smiled wirily. "That's the thing, there doesn't need to be a reason for a friend to look out for a friend. It's something you've always had trouble accepting. We're not friends because of convenience, Ritsuko, or because we're in a give and take sort of relationship. We're friends because we want the other person to be happy."

Ritsuko looked at her, friend, and tried to sort through the argument. It was illogical and even somewhat circular. Just trying to make sense of it was giving her a headache. But then again that was what Amanda was claiming was her problem, she was trying too hard to make sense of something that intrinsically did not have any sense to it. And yet could this really be how humans interacted with each other? With no rhyme or reason? That notion hurt her head even more.

"Why do you care though?" Ritsuko said. "All of this will be irrelevant once Instrumentality occurs."

"Ah, now that would be telling," Amanda said coyly.

Ritsuko frowned. And then it clicked. Everything Amanda and Soren had done over the past few months began to make sense. The two were not working to advance Instrumentality, they were actively working to prevent it. Was this it? Could she use this to bargain with SEELE, get them to reinstate Gendo? But would SEELE believe her over Kiel Lorenz's own granddaughter and their chief enforcer? How could she get proof that this was not just some desperate ploy? Could she-Ritsuko's train of thought abruptly chopped off. Why was she plotting to help Gendo? Was she so desperate for affection like Amanda said that she would sacrifice anyone and everyone for a man that treated her with such callousness? The man had chosen his doll over her time and time again, it was plain as day that he would never see her the way he saw his deceased wife. Was he really the man Ritsuko would be prepared to give her all for?

The doctor slumped down into her chair. "I need to think about all this."

Amanda smiled. "Sure Ritsuko. Take your time. And try to take it easy, okay? The human body can only take so much abuse before it will force you to rest."

The German woman left the office, Ritsuko watching her until the door slid shut behind her. She sighed. Things were so much less complicated just a few days ago. Now she felt as if she was staring into a bottomless abyss that was threatening to swallow her up whole. But her head was feeling clearer now, the stress and anxiety that had been building for so long fading with every passing moment. In fact what would really help clear out that stress was another cigarette, doctor's orders be damned. Ritsuko reached for the pack. She grabbed nothing but air. The doctor looked at her desk and saw that where the pack lay just minutes before there was nothing but empty space now. Now where had that-Ritsuko looked over at the office door. Amanda, it had to have been Amanda. Ritsuko chuckled. She supposed she should take the hint. And really smoking was bad for her health after all. Ritsuko turned back to the monitor. Maybe her work would be able to distract her from that as well. It was worth a try.

* * *

"Ouch, hey, watch it!"

"You watch it stooge," Asuka said irritably. "And keep your damn head down, if I catch you peeking I swear I will kick your teeth out!"

"How ta hell am I supposed to crawl around in these vents without seeing what's in front of me!?" Toji demanded.

"You don't need to see what's in front, you just need to stay behind me," Asuka snapped.

"And how am I supposed to know if I'm still behind you if I can't look up?" the boy countered.

"Just, just use your ears and listen for once in your life!" The girl sighed in exasperation. "Why am I doing this again?"

To that Toji said nothing and the next minute or so passed in silence until Asuka found the grate she was interested in.

"Okay, hang tight. We need to wait for Mari to unscrew this for us."

"Can't you just kick it out?" Toji asked.

Asuka snorted. "That only works in movies. In real life these things are bolted on tight, you'd probably end up breaking your leg first before breaking the grate."

Toji muttered something under his breath that Asuka did not quite catch but the girl paid him no mind. Instead she peered out the grate, on the lookout for her friend. They did not need to wait long as Mari appeared a minute or so later.

"Yo princess," the girl greeted as she bent down. "Just one minute and I'll have you and the jock out of there."

It took a bit longer than that for the girl to unscrew everything. Once out Asuka bent backward and stretched.

"Thanks Mari, those ventilation shafts are a lot tighter than they look."

"Give it a few more years and neither of you would have been able to fit through them," Mari said. "So, should I leave this open for your return trip?"

"Nah, close it," the redhead said. "We can probably just walk out. Even if they catch the stooge at that point it's not like they'd do anything besides give him a stern talking to and escort him off premises."

"What'd you say!?" Toji demanded.

"Oh stop whining already," Asuka said, "c'mon, there are a lot of patrols around and if we want to avoid them we need to hurry."

Toji grunted and followed after the girl. Mari gave them a wave before proceeding to close the grate. As they ventured toward the medical wing Toji found that Asuka was not exaggerating, over the course of ten minutes they ended up ducking back, backtracking, and hiding to avoid three separate patrols of soldiers.

"So why is security so tight right now?" Toji asked in a hushed tone.

"The Maestro's put the entire base on high alert," Asuka said, her voice equally subdued. "He's been using the UN regiment to bolster internal security. He said he's not taking any risks with anything happening to us."

To that Toji could only nod in approval. After all it was his girlfriend that was behind all this security. The two had just rounded another corner when Asuka squeaked. The person she ran into did more than that and a cry of surprise escaped the woman.

"Whoa there! Oh hey, it's Lieutenant Shikinami," the woman said.

Asuka blinked. "Sergeant, Kasahara?"

"Yep, that's me," the short haired woman said with a smile. "Sorry about that, wasn't expecting anyone to be turning the corner like that."

"That's okay," Asuka said, trying to figure out how to end the conversation and get the patrol on their way.

"So what brings you down here?" Kasahara asked, completely oblivious to said desire however. "Oh, you're here to visit your friend right? I hear she's doing better, the doctors were thinking of bringing her out of her induced coma within the next few days."

"That's right," Asuka said and bowed. "If you would please excuse me then?"

"Sure, no prob-hey, who are you?"

Asuka cursed herself and turned to give Toji a glare. Why hadn't the stooge hidden himself?

Toji bowed immediately. "Suzuhara Toji! Hikari's my girlfriend and I came to see her!"

Kasahara blinked in surprise. "Her boyfriend? I didn't know she had one. No, wait, yeah, I've heard about you." The woman's eyes narrowed. "You're not cleared to be down here."

"I know ma'am and I'm really sorry, but I haven't been able to see her since the Angel attack," Toji said, head still bowed low. "Please, I beg of you, let me at least see her once before you throw me out."

"Sergeant, I would consider it a personal favor if you let this slide," Asuka added in. "He's been haranguing me and the other pilot for days now and if only for our own peace of mind could you pretend you didn't see him?"

Kasahara looked back and forth between Asuka and Toji before sighing. "Alright, but just this once. And if you run into another patrol, it's up to you to talk your way out of it."

Asuka smiled brightly. "Thank you sergeant, I won't forget this."

The woman sighed again. "Don't make me regret this. Hurry along now."

"Wilco," Asuka said. "C'mon stooge, it's a clear shot from here to the medical center."

The girl broke out into a run and Toji offered a quick bow before chasing after all.

"You sure that was okay sarge?" he heard one of the soldiers say.

"Probably not," Kasahara replied, "but I can't very well stop a guy from wanting to be there for his girl."

Toji allowed himself a slight smile. Yeah, he would be there for Hikari. The smile disappeared. No matter who or what stood in the way.

The two arrived before a large door sealed by a security lock.

"The other side leads to the observation room," Asuka said. "Hikari's in a climate controlled room to minimize any contamination or germs so you can't go in there directly."

Toji nodded. "Alright, open up, I'm ready."

"One last thing." Asuka spun around and looked him in the eye. "Shinji's in there."

The boy flinched.

"He told me about his promise to you," Asuka went on. "I'm only going to say this once, what happened to Hikari was not Shinji's fault. He had no control over the EVA once the dummy plug came online. So you will not hold him responsible for Hikari's injuries, am I clear?"

The boy ground his teeth. "I hear ya. Now open up."

Asuka regarded the boy for a few more seconds before pulling out her keycard and sliding it through the reader. The doors slid open.

"To your right, third room on your left," she said.

Toji nodded and stepped through.

"If I find out you punched Shinji I will end your ass, Hikari's boyfriend or not," Asuka said before the door closed.

Toji hesitated one brief moment at hearing this but then set out for the room. To his right, third room on his left. He took a deep breath and pressed the door button. It slid open and he stepped through. The room was pretty bare, a few chairs and a window looking into a room filled with complicated looking medical equipment. On the bed in the middle of the room lay a junior high school girl, her hair loose and spilling over the pillow. A pump next to her rose and fell in time with her chest as oxygen was delivered to her through the mask over her face. Much of her body was covered by a white bedsheet but even from where he stood Toji could make it the bandages covering Hikari's right shoulder. The place where an arm was no longer present. The boy's hands balled up into fists.

Standing beside the window was Shinji, his hand pressed against the glass as he also watched Hikari. Toji approached him, his shoes sounding against the floor with every step. Shinji turned around to face him.

"Toji."

"Shinji."

The two boys remained like that, meeting each other's gazes silently. And then Shinji bowed.

"I'm sorry."

Toji said nothing.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise," Shinji went on. "I'm sorry I let Hikari get hurt this bad. It was my fault, if only I had fought harder my father would have never activated the dummy plug and we might have gotten her out of the Angel sooner."

Still Toji remained silent.

"I'm sorry I didn't try hard enough," Shinji said. "When we first met I promised I would do my best to make sure no one would get hurt, but I didn't. I didn't do my best and Hikari did get hurt."

Shinji rose. "So punch me."

Toji blinked. "Huh?"

"I punched you and owed you one," the other boy said. "I've gone back on my word, so we're not even any more. So, punch me and make it right again."

Toji stared at the boy for several seconds before he lunged at Shinji.

"Punch you!?" he cried as he grabbed hold of the boy. "Do you think punching you will make Hikari better!? That it'll make her arm come back!? Or let her walk again!?"

"I know it won't but it's the only thing I can do!"

"No it's not!" Toji let Shinji's collar go. "No, it's not. You're an EVA pilot, Shinji, you fight to keep us safe from Angels. Hell you have kept us safe from Angels all this time. You, I can't hate you for what happened to Hikari. It wasn't your fault man, you did try. It wasn't your fault."

Shinji's body trembled as he backed up against the window.

"Everyone keeps saying it wasn't my fault, but I just can't believe it," he said. "I was the one in Unit 01, I could have done something more."

"What could you have done man?" Toji protested. "I heard it from Makinami and the de-Shikinami herself! That dummy plug or whatever totally took control, you couldn't do anything!"

"It was my fault it got turned on in the first place," Shinji said. "And after it got turned on I could have tried to make my father turn it off! I could have activated the EVA's self-destruct, force him to turn it off!"

Toji felt anger spike with him. "Self-destruct!? Don't talk bullshit here Shinji, what would have threatening to blow yourself up accomplished?"

"It would have gotten them to turn off the dummy plug sooner!"

"You don't know that!" Toji snapped. "No don't even try, you can't possibly know that! And what if they called your bluff and you did blow yourself up!? Would that have saved Hikari, or would you have ended up taking her with you!?"

Shinji said nothing.

"You did your best man, you have to believe that yourself," Toji said. "You fought for us, for Hikari, and you need to believe that yourself or else you, well, the next time you go out there really might be the last time. Hikari's still alive, Shinji. Don't make things turn out that I end up mourning you instead."

Shinji took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know any more Toji, I really don't. I don't know if I can keep doing this."

Toji nodded. "That's your choice man, and I'll stand by ya no matter what you choose. But you've already saved lots of lives already, Hikari's included. Don't doubt that for a second Shinji."

The boy straightened somewhat and offered a slight smile to his friend.

"Thanks Toji."

The jock returned it. "No problem man." He chuckled dryly. "And besides, I could never hit you."

Shinji blinked, cocking his head to the side.

"The demon'd stomp me into paste if I laid a hand on her man."

Shinji blinked again. He blinked a few more times. Then his face started heating up. Pointedly however he made no move to deny Toji's words. The other boy said nothing more, instead walking over to the window. Hikari lay there, breathing slowly. But she was breathing. She was alive. And that was what counted.

The room was suddenly awash with red lights as klaxons blared. The two boys looked up.

"An Angel," Shinji said softly.

Toji looked over at the other boy. "You going?"

Shinji met his gaze and after a brief moment nodded firmly. Toji flashed him a grin.

"Go kick its ass."

"I will."

It was a statement, and a promise.

End of Chapter 34

Over nine thousand seven hundred words for this chapter. There was a lot of stuff to pack in. And quite frankly I could have added even more and split it into two chapters, but that would probably have been a bit too heavy with all the drama and stuff. Overall I'm pretty pleased with this chapter, there was a lot of character development and we got to see some plot progression. I'm sure a lot of you are just overjoyed that Gendo's been tossed into the brig. He still has a role to play however so we will be seeing him again.

I'm not sure if Ritsuko's development in this chapter had enough foreshadowing/sufficient preparation in previous chapters. She might not have been given enough scenes and etc to justify what happened this chapter. We'll see.

Something that I wanted to do but kept forgetting to add in was a twist to Asuka and Rei's relationship. A lot of fans infer that Asuka suffers from nightmares a lot and one thing I've seen used to get Asuka and Shinji closer together is to have it when Asuka sleeps with him she doesn't get the nightmares anymore. I had wanted to reproduce this but basically have Asuka walk into Rei's room by accident, since they are living in the same apartment, and achieve the same effect. Asuka would eventually find out this was happening and after some hijinks it would serve to help the two further bond. The reason this did not make it into the story proper is because I literally kept forgetting to add the scenes depicting it in. If I ever do a definitive version or something for this fic, it's one of the things that I would fix. The other would be Mayumi's abrupt introduction, moving some of the scenes in chapter three into chapter two and adjusting as necessary. Anyway, as far as the Asuka/Rei sleeping together thing goes, assume that it has happened and Asuka has realized and the two are closer as a result. Not romantically close obviously, but close as in much more comfortable with each other.

I'm not sure which will see an update next, _In Tune_ or _A Cold Calculus_. More likely the latter seeing as I already have parts of the next chapter written where as I have nothing written for the next chapter of this fic. So you guys will have to suffer through the cliffhanger for a while. Anyway, drop a review if you've enjoyed the story thus far. And if you have any comments or thoughts on the development of course.


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Krieg

"-and the doctors are still trying to figure out just exactly why the nerve signals don't seem to be reaching Hikari's lower body," Amanda said. "It's strange, there's nothing wrong with the girl's spine but her brain seems to think it's been severed."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Misato asked.

"Maybe," Amanda said thoughtfully. "Morgenroete's been working on some advanced neural therapy that might kick start her system again but we're sort of in uncharted territory."

The women, all three of them actually seeing as Madison was also present, were sitting about the command deck on the dais overlooking the room. Almost a week had passed since the incident with Unit 03 but Soren had yet to lower the alert level. No one was grumbling, yet, but Misato doubted the German man could keep this up for much longer without starting to fray some people's nerves.

"They might actually have more luck with her arm," Amanda said. "Some of the new prosthetics that are in development are really promising. It won't feel as natural as a person's original arm, but they offer near full range of motion."

"That's, incredible," Misato said honestly.

"Fraulein Horaki has already been signed on to receive one of the test models," Soren said from his own chair.

The acting-commander was seated at the head of the dias and had an array of paperwork scattered on the table before him so he was half participating in the conversation and half doing, well, work. Misato was also technically back on active duty but had been spending more time with Shinji and Asuka than actually clocking in the hours.

"Good," the operations head said. "She deserves our very best after what we put her through."

On that no one present disagreed, though unbeknownst to Misato a side conversation was also taking place about just what Hikari had gone through.

"This is getting inconsistent," Amanda said over the mental link. "We've seen multiple iterations of the Unit 03 scenario and in theory Hikari shouldn't have been this badly hurt."

"Actually there's nothing consistent about the scenario to begin with," Madison pointed out. "In one variation the pilot suffered an amputated leg and arm and another saw the pilot killed outright. Then we have an example where the pilot made a near full recovery. The details of why each outcome occurred were too minute for us to manipulate, we're just lucky Hikari survived."

"I don't like that at all," Amanda growled. "We're supposed to be trying to minimize casualties, not just shrug and accept it when we screw up."

"We are not just accepting it," Hayashima said from elsewhere in the base. "Hikari will recover and all of us will be there for her. Toji will be there for her. And she will be there for him. That by itself is an achievement over many of the other possible outcomes."

Amanda sighed internally. The doctor was right and she of all people would have the most right to be disgruntled about the outcome. But instead she approached the current situation with a frank attitude and worked with what was, not what she might have wanted. And ultimately Hayashima was right on some key points, Hikari was alive and her loved ones would be there for her. It should be enough. God Amanda hoped it would be enough.

Madison suddenly smirked, in both real life and in her mental projection. Misato gave the woman a curious look but knew the colonel well enough that random sounds from the woman were par for the course. Amanda on the other hand shot her an annoyed look, but physically and mentally.

"What is it four eyes?" the auditor asked mentally.

"Your protégé and mine just snuck Hikari's boyfriend into the medical wing," Madison answered the same way.

Amanda frowned and focused on Asuka. Madison was right, the redhead was leading Toji around the various patrols set up. Now how had she gotten him that deep to begin with? Ah, the ventilation shafts. Huh, she supposed they would need to actually think about securing those. If a 13 year old girl could use them to bypass NERV's security checkpoints than the JSSDF most definitely could do the same.

"Rather takes me back," Klinge said from halfway around the world.

"Wouldn't know," Amanda replied offhandedly. Her own experiences did not exactly align with the Generalmajor's after all.

"So has the committee decided when they'll appoint a new commander?" Misato asked Amanda.

"Kind of," the German woman replied. "They have a preferred candidate but it's taking a while to get all the approvals through."

"Is it Soren?"

Amanda snorted and Soren grunted.

"No," the auditor said. "I'm pretty sure he'd resign if they tried to make him the permanent CO for NERV."

"Oh? Why? He seems to be doing a pretty good job," Misato said as she regarded the man.

"I have no intention of doing this paperwork for any longer than I must," Soren said from his seat.

The major grinned. "Ah, well, comes with the job and the paycheck." She tilted her head. "By the way, how much do you get paid, Soren? With your Inspector-General gig that is."

"Approximately a hundred and thirty thousand marks a year," Soren said offhandedly.

Misato croaked.

"Yes I am aware that is more than you make, Misato," Soren added.

"Is there anyone that doesn't make more than me?" the major wondered with a huff.

"Well I know that Lieutenant Hyuga only gets about, six million yen a year," Amanda said. "Minus benefits of course."

"So the pilots basically get over double the pay while being on a lower rank grade," Misato said in amusement.

"Asuka's a first lieutenant now," Amanda reminded her friend, "but more or less yes."

"Well they deserve it." Misato frowned. "Is NERV going to be offering any financial support to Hikari?"

"She'll be getting a survivor's stipend for the rest of her life," Amanda said.

"Good."

The klaxons began blaring. Feet and chairs shuffled as the three women scrambled up. Soren simply calmly set aside the papers he was working on and looked down at the main projection.

"AT-field detected," Aoba announced. "Going to alert level one!"

"Preparing for ground-to-air intercept," Hyuga said.

"Do we have visual on the Angel?" Misato asked as she rode down to the main level.

"Yes ma'am," Aoba said. "Routing feed now."

The project flickered and a massive figure appeared. Misato frowned at the sight. The Angel did not look like much, its main body looking like it was wrapped in black bandages with a hint of the red core peeking through. Its head however looked like a ghoulish skull, giving it an ominous look.

"The Fourteenth Angel," Amanda said, "Zeruel, the Angel of Might."

Misato's eyes widened as she regarded her friend. Had Amanda not said that Zeruel might well be the most powerful physically?

"Status on the EVAs!" Misato called out.

"Units 00 and 04 are ready to deploy immediately," Maya said. "Units 01, 02, and 05 are waiting on the pilots."

"Unload everything we've got on that Angel," Misato ordered. "Delay it long enough for everyone to get prepped for launch."

"Aye ma'am!"

"Colonel Metz, could you please handle the evacuation?" Misato said.

"Roger," Madison said, grabbing a headset and plugging herself into the appropriate command net.

Above the city countless missiles and rounds slammed into the Angel, engulfing it in a crescendo of explosions. None seemed to have any effect however as the Angel floated over the lake and approached the city limits. Its own response was considerably more effective. The Angel's eyes flashed and an entire bank of missile batteries were vaporized.

"Colonel," Misato spun around to look up at Soren. "Permission to deploy the positron cannon against the Angel."

"Denied," Soren said, his own attention fixed on the personal display at his station. "Based off these preliminary numbers the MAGI gives the cannon only a 20% chance of penetrating. Based on the Angel's response thus far it will almost certainly destroy the cannon if we fire upon it. We cannot risk losing that weapon for no measurable gain."

"The Colonel's right," Maya interjected. "The MAGI's been getting solid reads on the Angel's AT-field and it is incredibly powerful, perhaps even more so than that of the Fifth and Tenth."

Misato grit her teeth but turned back to watch the display. This time a hillside and the artillery battery buried underneath it disappeared. Ritsuko chose that moment to enter the command center and immediately went over to Maya's station to offer her subordinate support.

"All EVAs ready to launch!" Hyuga reported.

"Put me through to the pilots," Misato ordered.

"Channel open."

"Asuka, remember that training scenario with the really tough AT-field?"

The girl looked at Misato incredulously. "That's actually happening!?"

"It's actually worse," Amanda said with a worried look. "The MAGI's calculations indicate that that field is almost twice as strong as what we used in the simulation. One EVA is almost certainly not enough to break through it."

The redhead let loose a string of German expletives. "Alright, change of plans, we're pairing up, Shinji, you're with Rei, Four-Eyes, with Maria, I'll go solo. We're charging through. Maria, follow Mari's lead."

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself Asuka?" Misato asked.

"Hey, I've got an Angel riding shotgun with me," Asuka said with a grin.

Misato grimaced at the girl's nonchalant tone. True the Angel had not turned against the girl when she fought Unit 01 and destroyed Bardiel's core but it still felt unnatural relying on the thing.

The command center suddenly shook, rocked by another explosion.

"We felt it all the way down here?" Misato said.

"No time to waste, give the order!" Asuka cried.

The major nodded. "EVA, launch!"

Across the base five catapults released and sent their payloads shooting for the surface. Five EVAs at once, more than NERV had ever deployed for a single battle. Misato prayed it would be enough. The command center shook again and even more alarms began blaring.

"It took out all twenty-four layers of the armor in one shot," Hyuga said in disbelief.

More missiles and rounds nailed the Angel, again to no effect.

"The evacuation is still underway," Madison said. "The pilots are going to need to be careful where they end up fighting."

"Damn it," Misato muttered. "We can't even slow that thing down?"

"EVAs have reached the surface!"

"Here we go!" Asuka's voice sounded over the radio.

The red EVA tore through the streets, winding her way around the areas designated as still full of civilians. The others were right behind her, Shinji and Mari taking potshots with their rifles while Rei and Maria gripped melee weapons. Asuka carried an oversized pistol, peppering the Angel as she closed in. There it was, the first of an insanely multilayer AT-field. With a cry the redhead threw her EVA into it only to slam into a solid wall with a ringing dong.

"Come on!" the girl raged. "Break!"

Power surged through her EVA as it drew on the S2 organ. Her AT-field began physically manifesting, pressing against the Angel's own barrier. Unit 02 strained as it pushed, gaining ground ever so slowly. The boundary between the two fields began mixing before evaporating completely.

"Now!" Asuka shouted.

Shinji and Rei were next, the two unleashing the full might of their AT-fields as they crashed into the Angel's barrier. Again they seemed to be stymied but again their combined strength ate away at the Angel's field. All the meanwhile conventional weapons continued raining down upon the Angel, turning its position into charred rubble.

"Too slow!" Asuka shouted as she joined in Shinji and Rei's charge.

The added strength finally broke through another layer of the Angel's defenses and as the three EVAs toppled over Mari and Maria made their entry. The Angel however was not sitting idle. The wrappings around its body unfurrowed into strips with red fleshy undersides and a bony structure cradling the core.

"You think that's its battle mode?" Mari suggested.

"Not the time for jokes!" Asuka said, joining the other two pilots once more and once more helping tip the balance to break through another layer.

Two of the strips rolled up to create cylinder shaped nubs on the Angel's sides. It turned to face the pilots and suddenly launched thick tendrils at the EVAs.

"Watch it!" Asuka shouted.

The pilots dispersed, Maria just barely evading the tendrils as as they gored into the building behind her EVA.

"Not cool," the American girl snapped, swinging her axe down to slice at the extension.

The tendril suddenly stiffened and Maria's axe bounced off harmlessly.

"What?"

"Look out!"

Maria leapt aside instinctively just as the area where her EVA flattened into a crater.

"It's using its AT-field offensively!" Asuka shouted. "Stay on the move and stick with your partners!"

The Angel's eyes flashed again and Asuka felt a suddenly blistering heat envelope her EVA.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Asuka!"

Shinji opened up on the Angel again, hoping to draw its attention away from the red EVA. The Angel did not even bother glancing in his direction.

"Damn it, fight me you bastard!"

"Ikari-kun!"

Shinji looked up but it was too late. Another AT-field slammed down, smashing his EVA into the ground.

"GAAAAAAAHH!"

"This isn't working Princess," Mari said.

"No shit," Asuka said, wincing as she pulled her EVA back up, "but we don't have any other choice. We have to get through its AT-field if we're going to destroy its core, or at least wear it down enough for the cannon to make the kill."

"Oh I agree," Mari said, "but throwing ourselves at it isn't doing it fast enough. At this rate it'll squash us all and take apart HQ at its leisure."

"Not hearing any new ideas, Four-Eyes," Asuka retorted.

Mari chuckled before her face turned deadly serious. "Colonel Metz, permission to activate contingency measures."

Back in the command center Metz was suddenly the center of attention. She looked up before, covering her mic.

"Authorization granted."

And promptly went back to coordinating the evacuation. Quite a few others continued to regard her with confusion, even Ritsuko. Tellingly neither Amanda nor Soren seemed confused in the least, a fact not lost upon Misato.

"Alright, I'm going in," Mari said. "All of you watch my back, I'm gonna be a bit busy."

"Mari, what are you doing!?" Asuka demanded.

"Invert mode," Mari said instead of answering. "Backdoor code, the BEAST!"

As the others watched Unit 05 began contorting, the pylons on its shoulders cracking open and two green cylinders spinning out. More followed along the back and the EVA's joints seemed bend in unnatural ways until they took on a distinctly animalistic posture. The armor over the EVA's mouth cracked and rows of sharp pointed teeth flashed.

"Gott in Himmel," Asuka exclaimed. "What the hell is that!?"

"The limiters are being released!" Maya cried back down in the command center. "All telemetry is dropping outside tolerances! We're losing feedback from the plug interior, but…"

"The plug depth is likely in negative values," Ritsuko said with a grimace. "She's willingly entered the contamination zone."

"But that's insane sempai!" Maya protested.

Back inside Unit 05 Mari growled as her body was wracked by the strains of Unit 05's awakening.

"Hang in there, 05, and I'll hang in there with you," the girl muttered.

The EVA roared, following to all fours and crouching like a feline predator. Its tether popped off and the countdown began.

"Nothing ventured," Mari gritted out.

The EVA reared back.

"Nothing…gained!"

It leapt, smashing through Zeruel's AT-fields as if they were thin glass until finally just before the Angel a thick, solid barrier stopped Unit 05 cold with a loud dong. Asuka was the first to recover and immediately began dashing in.

"Everyone move in!" she shouted. "Support Mari!"

The other pilots shook themselves out of their shock and charged in, Shinji opening fire again while Maria picked up her partner's discarded rifle and joined in. Mari jumped off the AT-field holding her back, trying to get at the Angel. Another quickly manifested, blocking her once more. With a cry of defiance Unit 05 slammed its fist into the offending barrier, smashing through it seemingly without effort. At the same time Asuka swung her axe at the Angel's back only to have it bounce against another AT-field. A second swing cracked it however and a third cut clean through. Still she was unable to actually land a blow on the Angel as yet another field appeared. But this one fractured on the initial strike and collapsed completely on the second. The reason was obvious, much of the Angel's attention was on Unit 05 who was furiously smashing through every barrier the Angel erected even as it inched closer and closer to the Angel itself. The two barrels on the Angel's side swerved.

"Watch it!"

The warning might have reached Mari or it might not have but the girl reacted too slowly. Tendrils lashed out again, one aimed at Unit 05 and the other at Unit 02, the Angel apparently having determined they were the biggest threats. It was not wrong, but it had forgotten they were not alone. Maria had grabbed hold of the other girl's EVA and pulled out just far enough back to avoid being impaled. Asuka managed to momentarily block the attempt to stab her with her axe but the weapon cracked almost immediately. Rei however came to her rescue, swinging her own axe down to cut off the extrusion. The tendril stopped just short of Asuka as it hardened to absorb the blow.

"Someone plug Mari back in!" Asuka ordered as she pulled out her prog knife.

That someone ended up being Maria as she was closest to Mari and the girl hurried toward a tether station. Shinji was too busy unloading the last of his ammo at point blank range, for all the good it did against the Angel's immensely strong AT-field. Zeruel roared, spinning about and throwing its closest assailants back. The Angel reared up, curling up two more strips and lashing out with four tendrils now, seeking to keep its opponents separated and disorganized. For some reason Mari escaped its initial attention. The reason why became clear as the Angel's eyes glowed red before it bathed Unit 05 in a whirlwind of energy. Mari screamed.

"Four-Eyes! Shit, shit!"

Asuka deflected another tendril, feeling her blade sink in ever so slightly before it hardened. Instead of moving aside to let the Angel soften and then retract its appendage, Asuka grabbed hold of it and ground her knife along its edge as she closed in on the Angel. A second tendril shot out at Asuka but the girl neatly jumped over it. Asuka bashed into the AT-field, feeling it give way as she pushed her own against the barrier. The light receded in Zeruel's eyes as it found itself forced to divert energy to keep the inflamed redhead at bay, creating just the opening Maria needed to slam a plug into Unit 05's back.

"Lieutenant Hyuga, is the positron cannon targeted on the Angel's core?" Soren asked suddenly.

"N-no sir!"

"Please rectify that."

Misato looked back up. "Can we risk that with the EVAs engaged at such close range?"

"If the opportunity presents itself we should not waste it," Soren said, "but we will only fire if the opportunity arises."

Misato nodded curtly, turning her attention back to the battle. The Angel was not down, not by a long shot.

"Just DIE ALREADY!" Mari screamed, ripping through the remaining layers of the Angel's AT-field now that she could draw on the tether.

Finally, she was upon the Angel and the bony ribs clammed down to cover the core. The first punch by Unit 05 was accompanied by an audible crack. The Angel's last line of defense would not hold for long. Asuka joined Mari in assailing the Angel, slamming her knife down through one of the tendrils and pinning it to the ground. Rei went for the more drastic step of slicing right through another with her axe. Before Shinji and Maria could join in however the Angel roared, blasting Mari with another flare of energy and knocked Unit 05 back. It immediately went on the move, shredding the tendril Asuka had tried to pin and floated away from the EVAs as quickly as possible. Its intended destination was all too obvious.

"It's going for the hole!" Asuka yelled. "Stop it!"

Naturally Mari was the first to pounce, blowing through the two layers Zeruel erected with contemptuous ease and landing on the Angel just as it reached the hole. Both Angel and EVA fell, Unit 05's tether sliding after it before going taut as it ran out. A second later it snapped.

"After them!" Asuka cried.

"Asuka stop!" Misato shouted just as the girl was about to jump down herself.

That hesitation proved well timed as light erupted from the hole and Mari's screams echoed over the radio.

"MARI!"

"Get to the elevators!" Misato ordered. "Move it!"

The pilots needed no further urging and raced for their respective platforms. Even as the platforms went into freefall the Geofront shuddered as the broken heap that was Unit 05 tumbled out of the hole Zeruel had made. The Angel was not long in following.

"The Angel has breached the Geofront!" Hyuga shouted as even more alarms began to blare.

"Evacuate all non-essential personnel," Misato ordered. "Seal all entries into Terminal Dogma!"

The Angel landed and turned to gaze at the blue pyramid. One of its rips was noticeably broken off.

"Damn it, we don't have any defenses down here," Misato cursed. "We need something to slow it down!"

"Dr. Akagi, can the positron beam penetrate through the city into the Geofront?" Soren asked.

The others all looked at him in stunned surprise.

"Possibly," Ritsuko managed to get out, "but the beam strength will have been greatly attenuated by the time it got down here, it is highly unlikely to be able to penetrate the Angel's AT-field."

"It does not need to," Soren said, "we just need to slow it down enough for the EVAs to get down here."

"Hyuga, get me a targeting solution now!" Misato snapped.

"Yes ma'am!" A few tense seconds passed before the computer beeped. "Cannon is aligned!"

"What will the bean hit along the way down?" Misato asked, leaning over her subordinate's shoulder.

"Just a few train lines ma'am," the many replied, "none of the shelters are in the direct path."

"Good." Misato looked up at Soren. The man nodded, a motion Misato returned before looking back at the screen. "Fire!"

Outside the city limits a bright beam erupted and streaked down towards Tokyo-3. Explosions erupted as it came into contact with the ground, the matter-antimatter annihilation reaction generating pure energy and melting away everything in its path. One second passed, then two, then, three, before a bright light filled the Geofront itself. Zeruel must have detected the impending danger as it suddenly reared up. Half a dozen prismatic bowels appeared between it and the incoming beam but whether it was drained from the battle or the energy pouring out from the cannon was too great, the first barrier shattered. Then the second, the third, the fourth. The fifth began to crack but the beam was already losing its intensity, having spent much of its fury just getting down here. When it faded the fifth barrier remained intact while the sixth and last was utterly untouched. The Angel's attention fell back to the pyramid and its eyes began glowing.

"All personnel evacuate!" Misato screamed.

It was too late. Zeruel's eyes flashed and the outer walls of the pyramid melted away from the blast that erupted. The command center shook with such intensity that it was all they could do to not be tossed about the chamber much less remain standing. When the tremors stopped Misato found one of Amanda's arms wrapped around her, the woman having caught hold of her.

"Thanks," she said.

"We're not out of this yet," the German woman said. "I think we really pissed it off."

That Misato needed no reminding of. "Status on the pilots?"

"They're almost here," Hyuga said. "Unit 00 is deploying!"

"Rei wait!" Misato called over the radio. "You can't take that thing on alone!"

"I will delay it," the girl replied back, her tone flat yet still filled with tension.

The blue EVA stepped out into the Geofront and hefted its axe.

"Ayanami!"

"Hold on Rei!" Asuka cried. "Don't do anything stupid! We'll fight this thing together!"

Rei grimaced. Zeruel had already seen her and was rolling up more of its strips. Even if she wanted to fall back retreat was now no longer an option.

"I have faith that we will prevail," she said.

"Damn it Rei I'm supposed to be the hotheaded one that plays at hero!" Asuka yelled.

Those were the last words the girl managed to get out before Zeruel unleashed a barrage of tendrils at Rei. The girl blocked the first two before a third smashed apart her axe. A fourth nearly impaled her while a six landed a glancing blow, cracking her chest armor. Unit 00 retreated, trying to put some distance between itself and the unrelenting Angel. Zeruel however increased the intensity of its attacks, slamming an AT-field down like a hammer on Rei's position. The girl just barely evaded being squashed but the Angel had time the attack well. Two more tendrils awaited Rei and one sliced cleanly through the girl's shoulder. Rei screamed as her EVA's right arm went flying. The Angel moved in for the decapitating blow.

"Oh no you don't!"

Asuka barreled into the Angel, the single AT-field managing to hold her for a mere second before crumbling under the force of the girl's will. She thrust her knife at the opening Mari had torn in the Angel's ribcage, sliding the blade under but missing the core itself. The girl pulled the trigger and the knife began humming, grinding away. Zeruel roared in pain and rage, flaying its hardened tendrils around trying to knock Asuka away even as one softened to withdraw for another strike. Shinji and Maria however pounced upon it, landing atop the tendril and sinking their own blades into it. The appendage hardened to prevent further damage but now the Angel itself was stuck. More tendrils began withdrawing and Maria drew her second knife, slashing away to keep them from easily returning to the Angel's side.

"Ahah!" Asuka cried as she felt the distinct pressure of the core come into contact with her knife.

Another roar as Zeruel leaned forth, its mouth agape. The girl's instincts screamed at her to pull back and she obeyed, just barely missing having her head bitten off by the Angel. That retreat however allowed Zeruel to slip out from under her. All of the Angel's appendages went limp before snapping back to the main body, even as two were in tatters from the blades Shinji and Mari managed to plant in them. The Angel pushed itself away from the EVAs as if it was trying to retreat once more. No, it was not retreating, it was headed straight for the silent Unit 05.

"It's going after Mari!" Asuka shouted. "Stop it!"

The trio scrambled to halt the Angel's advance but it was Rei, in a badly battered Unit 00, that reached the Angel and knocked it away from her comrade's broken EVA. Denied its intended prey Zeruel settled for the one in reach. Its appendages wrapped around the blue EVA and drew it toward its mouth.

"Ayanami!"

"Rei!"

"Shut the A-10 connection now!" Misato shouted.

Maya's hands flew over the console. Zeruel's jaws sank in, cutting the EVA in two. As it pulled back, the entire upper body was gone. What remained of Unit 00 toppled over as the Angel released it.

"Ayanami!"

"You son of a bitch!" Asuka roared.

She charged the Angel, ready to tear it to shreds for what it had done, only to find herself running into another AT-field. Asuka threw a punch, expecting to blow right through, only to suddenly be thrown back.

"What?"

Zeruel's eyes fell upon the red EVA. They flashed and Asuka screamed as if her skin was alight with fire.

"Asuka!"

Shinji tried to ram the Angel only to find that he too was now held at bay by an immensely powerful AT-field. In fact this one felt even stronger than what he had tried to fight through up on the surface.

"Maria-san!" Shinji cried. "Help me!"

The silver EVA dashed forth toward the boy but suddenly a tendril shot out. Only its tip hardened, piercing right through Unit 01's armor and sinking into the EVA's flesh. Shinji cried out in pain, fighting to not clutch his chest. Instead he grabbed hold of the appendage and pulled, trying to tear it to pieces. Unnoticed by him the countdown on the batteries had begun to run. The Angel had managed to smash the plug the tether was attached to.

"Shinji!" Maria shouted. "Hang on!"

The Angel's head turned to regard Maria and the girl froze. She watched in horror as Zeruel's body began to change, reforming into a humanoid shape. A distinctly feminine humanoid shape.

"Oh my god," she uttered.

"This-this is impossible," Maya exclaimed. "The MAGI's sensors are detecting the Angel as Unit 00!"

"It's merged with the EVA," Ritsuko said in numb shock.

"That means it won't trigger the safeguards in Terminal Dogma!" Misato cried out.

"Lieutenant Hyuga," Soren said, his calm tone cutting through the panicked atmosphere. "Set the base self-destruct, ten minute countdown."

The others looked up at him in horror but their expressions quickly turned to grim determination.

"Yes sir," Hyuga said.

"All personnel begin evacuation of the base," Soren announced over the PA. "Self-destruct has been set for ten minutes, I repeat ten minutes." A pause. "It has been an honor serving with all of you. May we all live to meet on a new dawn."

Soren looked back down at the command center. "The evacuation order stands for all of you as well."

No one moved.

"I think I speak for all of us," Misato said, "when I say that I'm not giving up just yet."

Soren cracked a slight smile. "Very well colonel."

Outside it was apparent none of the pilots were about to give up either. Asuka had managed to pick herself back up and was circling about, trying to find some way to approach the Angel without getting impaled like Shinji. Maria had managed to find herself another weapon and was unloading on Zeruel but at this point no ranged weapon was going to penetrate the Angel's AT-field. Unit 01 had slumped over, Shinji having drained its power far too quickly in his desperate struggle to free himself. Two EVAs remained standing however and both prayed that they would be enough.

"You ready Maria?"

Maria grimaced. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's send this thing to hell!"

Asuka charged and a beat later Maria leapt forth as well. The two EVAs approached from opposite directions to keep the Angel's attention divided. Zeruel however seemed unimpressed, lashing out with multiple tendrils at both girls. They ducked and weaved, getting closer with every step. However the closer they approached the Angel the harder it was to make further progress such was the intensity of Zeruel's response. The air burned from the bursts of energy the Angel fired at them and the ground shook as AT-field after AT-field slammed down. Still the two did not give up, pressing forward. But the girls were only human and the intensity of the battle had taken its toll. It was impossible to remain constantly alert without fatigue setting in and one was bound to make a mistake. In this case it was Maria, her relative lack of experience finally catching up to her. Prodigal genius or not, she was still a child and had not undergone the same battles as even Mari. She now paid for it as a single misstep saw the Angel cleave through her chest. The girl screamed in pain.

"Maria! Shit!"

Unit 02 twirled in the air, deftly avoiding a trio of tendrils even as she advanced another step. With her last comrade down however Zeruel could turn its full attention to Unit 02. It turned to face Asuka. The flaying appendages about its head all shot forth. There was no way Asuka could have avoided all of them. Three hit, slicing through the EVA's body and one impaling the girl's neck. The pain nearly overwhelmed the girl but she fought to hold onto consciousness.

"I…will…not…LOSE!"

Unit 02's eyes flashed and suddenly Zeruel was the one engulfed in a blast of energy. The Angel staggered and its onslaught slackened ever so slightly. But the relief was short-lived as it growled. It answered with a flare of its own and seared the red EVA. Asuka blacked out, the pain finally overcoming the girl.

Back in the command center the personnel watched in stunned horror as Unit 02 toppled. The Angel roared in triumph, and turned toward the pyramid once more.

"Lieutenant Hyuga, can the cannon fire yet?"

Hyuga looked down at his terminal. He shook his head bitterly. "I'm sorry sir."

Soren sighed. "I see. Then I suggest all personnel evacuate at once."

Again no one moved, perhaps because all saw Amanda taking the lift up and walking over to her husband. It was plain to all that Soren intended to see this until the end, to do his duty as NERV's acting-commander and ensure the base was destroyed to prevent the Angel from achieving its objective. It was equally obvious that Amanda had no intention of leaving her husband to his fate alone. And if she would not leave, how could they?

The room shook. Perhaps the choice had already been made for them. Soren pulled out his pistol, perhaps an instinctive action but one that everyone else found themselves emulating. Even Maya pulled out the gun at her station's drawer, scrambling to load its magazine. And then the wall shattered and the demonic skull-like visage of Zeruel gazed down upon them. Soren opened fire immediately and within seconds small arms fire lit up all over the chamber. It was absurd, such meager weapons had no chance whatsoever of penetrating the Angel's body much less its AT-field. Yet no one stopped firing, no one succumbed to despair. All stood and proclaimed their defiance. Even if this was the very end, they would die on their feet. Amongst it all, none noticed smiles emerging on the faces of a select few, save for those smiling themselves.

Another wall erupted and a dark mass slammed into Zeruel. The gunfire died down as the men and women present looked on in shock at the sight. Amidst all the dust was a pair of glowing white eyes. Glowing white eyes and the glint of purple armor.

"Unit 01!?" Misato said in disbelief.

The EVA seized Zeruel and hauled it through the hole it came through.

"Shinji-kun!"

Unit 01 continued pushing Zeruel back, landing a series of punches, kicks, and even head-butts on the seemingly disoriented Angel. Throughout it all it never raised its AT-field, as if unable to believe that the purple EVA was up once again. It soon found itself pressed against a wall and Unit 01 slammed into it, pinning it in place. Misato saw immediately what the EVA was trying to do, and knew then and there that Shinji was in control.

"Disengage the catapult locks!" she shouted.

Seconds later the locks snapped off and Unit 01 punched the manual launch button. Both Angel and EVA shot up, headed back up to the surface where this battle had begun.

"Lieutenant Aoba," Soren said, "deactivate the self-destruct. Lieutenant Hyuga, status on the positron cannon?"

The two men hurried to carry out Soren's orders.

"Still another five minutes before the cannon can fire again sir!" Hyuga cried back.

"Self-destruct deactivated," Aoba said in a more composed tone, though the relief in his voice was palatable.

"Unit 01 hasn't gone berserk right?" Misato said. "Shinji-kun's in control! Just what's going on!?"

"I have no idea," Ritsuko said, watching from a still functional display. "This, this is beyond anything we ever expected."

"Shinji's awakened Unit 01's power," Amanda suddenly said, "just like he did with Ramiel."

Ritsuko's eyes widened and she turned to look at the feed on Maya's terminal. "That sync rate!"

The others followed her gaze even as Maya gasped.

"It's, the system is claiming it's at 400%!" the young woman exclaimed. "The plug depth is over 180, if he goes any further he won't be able to disassociate from the EVA!"

"We have to stop him!" Ritsuko said.

"It's too late," Amanda said. "And even if it wasn't we can't stop him now. If he doesn't defeat Zeruel humanity dies."

Back on the surface the Angel seemed to have regained its senses and was fighting back furiously for all the good it did. It slammed itself into Unit 01's AT-field, blasting away with its eyes but succeeding only in creating a colorful light display against the EVA's barrier. Unit 01 raised its left arm and a blocky ring appeared around it. It closed its fist and the next instant Zeruel lay a distance away, the gash on the ground the only indication it had not simply been teleported away. The Angel rose, light flaring in its eyes again but it suddenly jerked back, its body sliced through the middle and the ribs cracking open to reveal the core. As Unit 01 approached the light in its own eyes dimmed from the bright glow they were just moments before. Once it reached the Angel one foot came crashing down, smashing Zeruel's face into a shattered pulp. The EVA reached down and grabbed hold of the Angel's core. It began to pull, eliciting pathetic moans from the beast it had laid low.

"What is he trying to do?" Misato barely even noticing the words leaving her mouth.

"He's trying to save Rei," Amanda answered.

Misato looked over at her friend. The brunette looked worried, in fact she looked very worried. The major looked up at Soren. Was he smiling? Why the two vastly different reactions? Misato gazed back at the tiny screen. What were they seeing that she was not?

The crack that sounded was far above on the surface yet it still reached them down in the Geofront. With a triumphant roar Unit 01 pulled out a much smaller core from the Angel's, shattering the creature's in the process. As Zeruel's body slumped down Unit 01 held up its prize and roared. The core dropped from its hand but hung suspended before the EVA. It suddenly burst, swirling about before reforming into a distinctly familiar form.

"Rei?" Misato said, her voice barely a whisper.

It indeed looked like Rei even as the form shone a bright scarlet. Slowly the body edged towards Unit 01 before seemingly flowing into the EVA. As it disappeared however a halo appeared over Unit 01's head.

"That's-that's," Ritsuko stuttered in horror. "It's ascending!"

Misato looked at her friend. "Ascending?"

"The EVA is returning to its original form, no longer constrained by the shackles of mankind. It is becoming like unto a god. A new lifeform that transcends all reason, born at the cost of all life that became before."

Misato's eyes widened. "Third Impact."

Out in the Geofront Asuka stirred, the memory of her pain causing the girl to flinch as she woke. The entry plug was dark but she could feel it, feel something great and powerful and strangely warm beyond the earthen walls.

"Baka," she muttered.

_He is strong._

The girl sensed not just a statement of fact but also a tinge of fear in those words. A strength that frightened an Angel. What had Shinji done?

Mari had pulled herself out of her EVA and like Asuka could not see what was happening outside the Geofront. Also like the girl however she could sense it.

"Well isn't he the convenient fella," she said. "I wonder if it has something to do with how he smells?"

The girl sneezed.

Maria hugged herself, tears streaming out of her eyes and mixing with the LCL.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die, please don't let me die."

Back in the wrecked command center Ritsuko nodded solemnly to Misato's words.

"Yes," Ritsuko said in resignation. "We've failed."

"No, we haven't."

Before anyone could respond to Amanda's words a light streaked down and slammed into Unit 01. The EVA went limp, propped up by the spear that how cut through its chest.

"Shinji-kun!" Misato cried out.

Descending from the darkened sky was a sight both familiar and unfamiliar. It was obviously an EVA but the strange visor on its head was unlike anything those of Tokyo-3 had seen before.

"What is that?" Misato said aloud.

"The Mark. 06," Amanda said.

The woman grimaced. And now for the tricky part.

End of Chapter 35

Heh, oh it's going to be so personal when the time comes. And it's going to hurt.

Nearing 300k words in my master draft, though that includes a few scenes I have written for future chapters. I had not actually been expecting to basically fill an entire chapter with basically one battle. When was the last time that happened? Was it for Matarael? Ramiel? I can't remember at this point, it's all kind of a giant blur to me at this point. But since the battle basically took up most of this chapter, I don't think I'll need to spend more than a chapter on the salvage operation. There's plenty of stuff to pack into there since there are quite a few unresolved threads that I need to tie off next chapter. But overall I think I'm at a good place. We're quickly approaching endgame which I'm sure has lots of you excited.

As I've said many times in the past, I generally don't make arbitrary decisions when it comes to plot points. Hikari's injuries are no exception. Trying to use past precedent as a guide for what kind of injuries she should have suffered is not, productive, to say the least, seeing as they're all over the map in terms of what injuries get sustained by Unit 03's test pilots. What happened to Toji and Asuka has pretty much no relevance to what happened to Hikari, since I have an express purpose for the injuries inflicted upon her. It'll get explored more next chapter as there will have been more time for analysis of what happened to her and, less trying to fight for their lives so they have time to discuss it in more detail. That is somewhat the problem with serial works like this, there are lots of lingering questions at the end of each chapter.

There was a, kind of subtle clue dropped by Amanda about herself early in the chapter. See if you guys can figure out what it was and what it means.

I'll be switching back to _A Cold Calculus_ for my next chapter so you'll have to live with the semi-cliffhanger for probably a week and a half. I'll be in NYC next week so won't really be in a position to write much. Considering how many chapters I've pounded out for both this fic and _A Cold Calculus_ I think I deserve a break. Conversely if you enjoy reading my works in general I recommend you check out _Calculus_. It is replete with my usual multilayered plot elements and what I generally believe are my solid characterizations. Some of you may disagree, but then again if you do, not sure why you would have put up with 35 chapters plus prologue of it thus far.

Anyway, drop me a line with your thoughts, I do read all the feedback I receive.


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Entstehen

"This is unacceptable," SEELE 03 declared. "The sacrilege committed by Unit 01 jeopardizes all that we have worked for."

"The loss of an EVA is bad enough," SEELE 04 grumbled, "but the repair costs for the other four are astronomical."

"We cannot continue diverting funds from the UN, the system of control we have is already near breaking from the expenditures for the EVA series," SEELE 02 stated.

"Perhaps our confidence was misplaced," SEELE 09 said darkly.

Throughout it all Soren and Amanda remained silent, letting the old men vent. Until they were done no amount of reason would reach them.

"Amanda," SEELE 01 finally spoke up, ending the grumbling of the others. "What say you?"

"Our current status is actually quite good," Amanda said, eliciting gasps of disbelief from the monoliths. She did not give them time to verbalize any disagreement. "Let us consider the basic facts. Only three Angels remain before the promised time, one of which you control and Soren can terminate personally should the need arise. Zeruel was listed as the most powerful Angel we were to face, with its defeat we have likely overcome the greatest direct challenge to our ultimate ascension. The second Ayanami clone has been removed from play and should we decide to bring a new one online she is unlikely to retain the former's attachment to Ikari, thus reducing his ability to use her to hijack Instrumentality. The tunnel carved by the positron cannon and the damage Zeruel inflicted on the city's fixed defenses should make it considerably more vulnerable to a JSSDF incursion should that need actually arise. And finally, the reduced number of operational EVAs should offer ample justification for completing the EVA series." Amanda shrugged. "All things considered we came out of the battle against Zeruel in a considerably stronger position for achieving Instrumentality than we had any right to expect. Let us not forget that that is the ultimate goal. Defeating the Angels is merely one step in the path to achieving it."

The men that made up SEELE were not fools and as Amanda rattled off her points they quickly realized that she was, more or less, right. It was a grudging admission on their parts, for if there was one sin that SEELE seemed incapable of overcoming, it was pride. Still they were pragmatic enough to see the advantages that Amanda's position offered.

"Are we to presume that NERV will not need funds to repair the EVAs?" SEELE 04 asked.

"Not all of them," Amanda replied. "Unit 02 is already regenerating its internal damage, all we need is to replace some armor and we have spares for that. Unit 04 will require a modest sum to bring back to operational capacity, though whether it is actually necessary anymore with the Mark 06's arrival is debatable. Unit 05 can be written off, Mari pushed it so hard when she went into Beast mode that it would take weeks if not months to regenerate the internal trauma. And Unit 01, assuming we can extract its pilot, is in about the same situation as Unit 02. It is regenerating the damage it suffered by itself and will likely only need replacement of armor."

Amanda imagined she could see the grimaces of the old men at the mention of Unit 01. That was the real wildcard in their plans, the one thing that might yet derail their plans for Instrumentality. As far as they knew at least.

"And how many EVAs do you believe will be necessary to ensure victory against the last three Angels, Colonel Reimer?" SEELE 05 asked.

Soren cocked his head aside. "The Mark 06 cannot be counted as under NERV's control. Assuming a need to defeat it, at minimum we would want two-to-one odds, preferably three-to-one. If Unit 05 is not salvageable within the limited window we have, then the necessary funds should be allocated to make repairs to Units 01, 02, and 04. We could forego repairing Unit 04 if you wish to reduce our redundancy, though doing so would also entail explaining to its pilot why that course of action was taken."

That last was said with a glance in SEELE 04's direction. Amanda fought back the urge to smirk. Soren was really playing dirty here.

"We will consider what resources are available," SEELE 04 said flatly. "In the meantime use what is currently available in Tokyo-3 to bring Unit 02 back up to operational readiness."

Soren nodded.

"A point," SEELE 07 said. "Why is Gendo Ikari still alive?"

Soren regarded the former commander's own father-in-law. That he be the one to raise the point was in some ways even amusing.

"Shall I execute him after the meeting?" Soren asked.

"Consider us curious as to why you have not already," SEELE 02 said.

Soren shrugged. "Death is permanent. Better that we keep him alive until our vision for Instrumentality becomes inevitable than execute him prematurely and discover his death places a crucial piece out of our reach."

Simple silence answered Soren.

"There is also the matter of the satisfaction of denying him the Instrumentality that he so desperately desires," Soren added almost as an afterthought.

Kiel snorted in amusement. "You seem to possess a vendetta against Ikari."

Soren looked up at the monolith marked 01. It should have been impossible but Kiel thought he felt a chill run down his nonexistent spine at the younger man's smile.

"Herr Ikari thought himself untouchable because of his ruthlessness. Such hubris warrants a demonstration of what distinguishes genuine ruthlessness and the petty-minded facsimile he has been engaged in."

* * *

The mood in Tokyo-3 was subdued. Everyone knew that a titanic battle had been fought against the last Angel and there were plenty of eyewitnesses thanks to the speed with which Zeruel invaded the city. Not since Sachiel had the people felt so terrified by the appearance of an Angel. NERV's effectiveness since that first climactic battle had assuaged much of the population's doubts and the minimal damage suffered by the city in subsequent battles had made people complacent. The battle against Zeruel was different however. Several blocks were trashed outright and then there was the massive tunnel carved into the ground just inside the city limits. And if that was not enough there were the rumors that even with five Evangelions deployed the Angel had still nearly emerged victorious. The people of Tokyo-3 grasped that the margin of victory had been razor thin this time around and it scared them.

In fact the battle against Zeruel had resulted in perhaps the first large numbers of civilian casualties ever. Not even the battle against Sachiel had seen so many dead or wounded. The initial surge of criticism that rose up, much of it from local Japanese politicians itching for some payback over the humiliation handed to them over the Trident scandal, died out very quickly after Amanda sent an unofficial note detailing the attempts of certain politicians to rig the bidding for the reconstruction work that Tokyo-3 required. More heads rolled and the German woman was again cursed as that foreigner who was sticking her nose into places where she had no right to. To rub it in Amanda made no secret of how much she was enjoying hanging the Japanese government's dirty laundry out for them to see. More than one politician and bureaucrat was beginning to suspect the UN auditor held a grudge against the Japanese government. None of them knew how right they were.

Despite the fear however there was also a sense of triumph, a sense of hope. The mightiest Angel yet to appear had still been laid low by the power of man. Surely the worst was over, the remaining Angels would be defeated with NERV's usual efficiency. Surely the end was in sight and this long, grinding war would be over with mankind victorious. Or so the thinking went. The only question was what the final cost would be, the final tally in blood and treasure. For some it was already too high.

Toji took a deep breath. He was standing vigil over Hikari, having finally received clearance to enter and leave the Geofront at will. Once again he owed Asuka for helping make it happen, a debt that the boy found himself less and less bothered about. Sure the redhead could still be a bitch at times but deep down she was a nice person. She cared a lot about her friends and someone like that Toji could live with being in debt to.

Hikari herself had been moved out of the climate controlled ward, her injuries having been sufficiently healed that she could breathe naturally without artificial assistance. She had also been taken off the sedatives and all that was left to do was wait for her to wake up. Toji was determined that she would not do so alone, a determination shared by her family. The end result was effectively rotating shifts between himself, Kodama, and Hikari's father. Asuka would likely have joined in as well save for the fact that her attention was focused on Shinji and Rei's situation. Still between the three of them they were able to keep the sleeping Hikari company throughout the day. Toji had even chatted with Hikari's father, formally introducing himself to the man. To his relief the man seemed willing to accept him as his daughter's boyfriend and had asked the boy to stay by Hikari's side. That was an easy promise to make, one Toji would rather die than break.

A moan escaped the girl. Toji leapt to his feet before falling to her knees at her bedside.

"Hikari?"

The girl shifted and ever so slowly her eyes opened.

"Hikari!" Toji exclaimed in joy and relief.

Hikari's head rolled toward him, her eyes muddy but recognition flashing within them.

"Toji?"

The girl's right shoulder twitched and Toji immediately discerned what she was trying to do. She was trying to reach out to him. He quickly grabbed hold of her left hand and squeezed.

"I'm right here Hikari," he said. "I'm right here."

The girl blinked, her attention drawn to the lack of feeling in her right arm and she peered down. Her eyes widened before tears welled up.

"No," she whispered. "No…"

"It's alright Hikari," Toji tried to soothe her.

"No," the girl began sobbing. "Don't, don't look at me, I'm-I'm-I'm not whole anymore, please, don't look!"

The boy's chest tightened in pain as he watched his first love break down.

"That doesn't matter!" he cried. "You're still you Hikari! You're the most beautiful, kindest, greatest girl I've ever met! Nothing's ever going to change that!"

"But I-I," Hikari hiccupped. Words failed her as more tears poured forth.

Toji grimaced. His words weren't reaching her. Maybe his actions would. He reached down and pulled Hikari up, embracing the girl in a tight hug.

"I'm never letting ya go Hikari," he said. "I don't care what's happened to ya, I'll always be by your side. If you ever feel there's something you can't do, I'll be right there to help ya do it. Alright? So don't cry like that, or yer gonna make me cry too. And a man can't let his girl see him cry when she needs him, aight?"

The tears did not stop but Hikari buried her face in her boyfriend's chest. She gripped his shoulder with her one good hand before wrapping her arm around his neck. Toji cradled her gently, offering a bedrock to steady her trembling. She did not stop crying but she held onto him tightly. For now that was good enough.

* * *

Misato regarded the teal and yellow striped EVA locked in the cages.

"How many more EVAs are out there?" the woman muttered to herself.

"Including or excluding the Mass Production series?" a voice said next to her.

The woman started and looked over to see Amanda suddenly next to her.

"Bloody hell Amanda, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Amanda offered an apologetic smile. "You've been coming down here quite a bit."

Misato grimaced and looked over to another cage. "You know why."

The German woman nodded. "Yes. They're down here."

Unit 01 was presently heavily restrained even as technicians crawled over it, connecting wires and other instruments. They were still trying to access the telemetry feeds from the entry plug to ascertain Shinji's status. Unit 01 was being even less cooperative than usual however and the embedded electronics seemed to be randomly crashing and resetting every few commands.

"What exactly is an EVA?" Misato asked.

Technically the two were in a semipublic locale what with the engineers and technicians bustling about. The two were however given a wide berth by the men and women working down here and thanks to all the noise being overheard was likely a minimal concern. As such Amanda answered her friend frankly.

"At a basic level? Clones of Adam."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "Clones of Adam? The First Angel?"

Amanda nodded. "SEELE knew that when the time came, they would need the means to defeat the Angels. To do so required getting around an Angel's AT-field. Humans cannot naturally manifest an AT-field, but Angels could, so they basically took some of Adam's cells, made some modifications to eliminate the possibility of them going rogue, and grew the EVAs from those cells. In effect, they created a slave race."

Disgust twisted Misato's face. "That, that's abhorrent."

The auditor chuckled. "I suppose it is. Yet we cannot discard the EVAs until we destroy the Angels."

"Would we ever be able to?" Misato asked. "How many places around the world know how to manufacture EVAs? What's to stop them from continuing to do so after all this is over?"

"We eliminate the temptation by making the EVAs obsolete," Amanda replied. "The EVAs are powerful because they too possess an AT-field, which protects them from most conventional weapons. On the other hand if a way is found to easily bypass an AT-field, then EVAs become basically sitting ducks against things like antimatter weapons or even kinetic weapons like railguns."

Misato blinked. "Wait, if you have the ability to do that, then doesn't that also apply to Angels?"

Amanda once again reminded herself not to underestimate her friend's intelligence. "Yes and no. We've been working on it for the past fifteen years and we're just getting the initial prototypes into production. To be frank I'm not even sure they'll be ready for another year or so, but once they are in production an EVA becomes nothing more than a giant white elephant."

"Are you sure they'll work?" Misato pressed.

"Soren used a scaled down version to take out Commander Wesker at the Second Branch," Amanda said, "so we know they can punch through AT-fields. We haven't done full-scale tests because, well, we haven't exactly had the opportunity to run a test on an actual EVA without attracting SEELE's attention."

"I see," Misato said, obviously not completely assured but satisfied for the time being. "And what about the EVAs here at NERV? Do you also intend to destroy them?"

"Of course. Hanging onto them will just give other countries even greater motivation to build their own."

"And Unit 02?"

Amanda grimaced, a reaction not lost upon Misato. "That, will be something of a wildcard."

The collective had never considered the possibility of an Angel willingly merging with an EVA. That was so outside of established conventions that even now there was a debate on just what to do about the thing. What was scarier however was how the fixed points the collective had structured this score around continued to resonate, as if everything was going according to plan. If that really was the case it meant the merger of Leliel and Unit 02 was integral to the score and that a resolution had already been predetermined. Just what sort of insane scenario had the collective accidentally birthed? Amanda sighed and shook her head.

"We're considering contingencies, but to be frank Unit 01 is the more immediate concern so that's what I'm focusing on right now."

Misato grimaced. "So what exactly happened with it?"

"All indications are it's grown its own S2 organ," Amanda said with a grimace. "We're not entirely sure how that's even possible but it might have something to do with it absorbing Unit 00's core after that core had originally merged with Zeruel's."

"A two-step hop?"

"Maybe. But as I said, we're in uncharted territory with Unit 01. Right now priority is on seeing if we can get Shinji, and just possibly, Rei out of there."

"And keep Asuka from trying something herself," Misato said dryly as she looked down at the catwalks below.

Following the woman's gaze Amanda saw that indeed the redhead was present again, staring at Unit 01. The personnel working on the EVA gave the girl a wide berth, not surprising considering the impressive scowl she had on her face.

"I'll go talk to her again," Amanda said with a sigh.

"No, I'll do it," Misato said with a wiry smile. "She is dating my son after all."

Amanda snorted. "Is that what we're calling it now?"

Before Misato could get down there the PA sounded.

"Colonel Katsuragi, Colonel Sommer, Colonel Reimer, please report to the primary observation bay, Dr. Akagi requests your presence."

The two women exchanged looks before hurrying towards the specified location. Down before Asuka also broke out into a run. She even beat the two older women there. Soren of course beat all of them.

"Good, you're all here," Ritsuko said as Amanda and Misato entered. "We've finished plugging in external overrides to Unit 01's embedded system and we're getting telemetry again."

"What about the internal camera?" Misato asked immediately.

"Resetting it now ma'am," Maya said as she typed away at her console diligently. "And, there."

The main monitor lit up to reveal a muddy image inside the entry plug. Gasps sounded as a blue and white plug suit floated listlessly in the LCL. There remained no sign of either pilots. Asuka stumbled back into Amanda and the other woman took hold of her by the shoulders.

"Whe-where the hell is he?" the girl demanded softly. Her face twisted in grief. "Where the hell is he!"

* * *

It took several minutes for Asuka to calm, both from the initial outburst and then from the sobbing as the girl continued to demand to know where Shinji was. Soren was the one that ultimately carried her out of the room, the girl clinging to him even as she continued weeping. The German man ultimately took her to one of NERV's sleeping quarters and laid her into the bed. Asuka's energy was spent, all the worry and stress from the past day or so finally crashing down on her. Her body demanded rest and finally got its way. After posting a guard outside the room Soren returned to the observation deck. Misato looked over worriedly as he entered.

"How is she?" she asked.

"Asleep," Soren replied flatly. "It would appear the Fraulein has not been sleeping well since the battle."

Misato grimaced. "I caught her sneaking into Shinji's room yesterday. I started kicking her out but she kicked up such a fuss I let her stay."

"I think her nightmares might be rearing up again," Amanda said. "She seemed to have gotten them under control since coming to Tokyo-3, but now…"

"One of you may need to keep her company when she sleeps," Soren stated.

The two women nodded. At 13 one might think that Asuka was a bit old to need to share a bed with a parental figure. When one considered how she had lacked such figures for a critical period of her childhood it became a given.

"Any progress on determining what is going on inside Unit 01?" Soren asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

"The current hypothesis is that Shinji-kun has lost the ability to distinguish between himself and Unit 01," Ritsuko said. "We're detecting traces of organic molecules in the LCL so it's likely that the elements that composed his body are still present, but without his soul giving it form his body has basically collapsed."

Soren frowned. "This has happened before."

"Yes," Ritsuko said. "The contact experiment carried out by Ikari Yui."

Misato furrowed her brow. She remembered the recording of that experiment all too well, including the image of a desperate Shinji banging at the window as his mother was taken away from him. More pressing however was the fact that Yui Ikari never came back.

"Options?" Soren asked.

"A salvage attempt was made to try to extract Dr. Ikari," Ritsuko said. "It ultimately failed but it should at least serve as a foundation for our own attempt. Our understanding of EVA technology and metaphysical biology has improved considerably since as well, so our chances should also be much improved."

"Any estimate on those chances?" Amanda asked.

Ritsuko frowned thoughtfully. "I can't give any definite numbers without working out the details of the operation, but I'm optimistic that we can achieve a 50/50 ratio."

The doctor's words were a pointed reminder that improved did not necessarily equate to good.

"Anything you need just say the word," Amanda said.

Ritsuko smiled wirily. "And if I asked for a miracle?"

"I'll ring up God and arrange for one," Amanda said in a deadpan tone.

The doctor was not the only one to stare at Amanda. There was no humor in the woman's eyes however and Ritsuko finally nodded.

"I'll let you know if it comes up."

The door slid open at that moment and the operator hurried over to Soren and snapped a salute.

"Colonel Reimer, Horaki-san has woken up."

A sense of relief rippled through the room. Finally, some good news.

"Has her father-never mind," Soren said as he watched a tech down in the cages suddenly charge out. "Has her siblings been informed yet?"

"We have passed the message along to their respective schools sir."

"Arrange for transportation in case they wish to come see her."

"Yes sir!" The man snapped another salute and rushed out.

Soren turned about to see he was the center of attention once more. He raised an eyebrow.

"As you were," he said before making his own exit.

* * *

"Mama…Mama…Mama…Mama!"

Asuka shot up and slammed her skull into another girl leaning over her. Both cried out in pain and clutched their throbbing heads.

"Owwwww," a pitiful voice groaned. "That was uncalled for princess."

Asuka looked over and glared at the other girl. "What the hell were you doing that close to me anyway four-eyes?"

Mari rubbed the point of impact but offered a slight smile as she responded. "Just checking up on you. Heard you had a little breakdown when they finally got the video feed going."

The glare lessened before Asuka looked away sheepishly. "You didn't need to do that."

"Nope, but I wanted to," Mari said as she settled back into the chair next to Asuka's bed. "How ya holding up?"

"I'm, not fine," Asuka said, slumping back down onto the bed. "Rei's gone. Baka-Shinji's gone. All I have left are you and that Maria girl and that creepy albino guy."

"Ah, Kaworu," Mari said. "He smells weird."

Asuka gave Mari a pointed look.

"What?"

The redhead sighed and slumped back down again. "Nothing."

Mari chuckled. "Well don't worry, Dr. Akagi's already working on a plan to get pup out of Unit 01."

This time it was Asuka with the quizzical look. "What?"

"That's the current hypothesis," Mari said, using the correct word for a scientific guess. A theory after all represented an agreed upon principle that was as close to an immutable fact as science ever got. "He's trapped in Unit 01 because he became too synchronized with it. They think they can get him out, reform his body, if they can get him to disassociate from the EVA and self-identify as Shinji Ikari again."

"So they think they can get him out?" Asuka said, sitting up.

"They're going to give it a shot at least," Mari said.

The redhead got to her feet and headed for the door.

"Where you headed?" Mari called after her.

"To lend a hand," Asuka said. "Like hell I'm just sitting around like a crybaby!"

The door slid shut behind Asuka, leaving Mari alone. The girl chuckled.

"Well, she just might be able to help. Ain't that right, me?"

Deep within Central Dogma in the secondary command center, Madison grinned.

* * *

Soren entered the commander's office, his office, at least for the time being. Lounging around inside was Kaworu Nagisa, officially designated the Seventh Child and pilot of the Mark 06.

"Welcome back Colonel," Kaworu said with his ever present smile. "Or should I say, onii-san?"

Soren regarded the being that possessed the form of a pale, red-eyed bow. "Tabris."

"It seems things are settling down a bit," Kaworu said. "I wonder what will happen next?"

Soren said nothing in response, instead walking over to the desk and pulling out the documents he came for. Kaworu watched him intently, eyes never blinking. If that disturbed the German he did not let on.

"Avoid interfering with NERV's operations, otherwise you are free to spend your time as you see fit," Soren said as he finished gathering up the documents into a folder. "Remain on base in case an Angel attack occurs."

Kaworu cocked his head to the side. "You are not concerned about the threat I may pose?"

"If you wish me to deem you a threat then let me know and I will see to your termination," Soren said as he headed for the door. "Otherwise your life is yours to do with what you will." The German paused at the door. "Just remember that free will does not mean freedom from the consequences of your decisions."

The First and Seventeenth Angel watched the door close behind the German man. Not for the first time Kaworu found himself confused by Soren's attitude. It was as if the man did not consider Kaworu to be of any relevance to his goals, quite the departure from how SEELE and most of their other operatives and associates treated him. Was it because Soren considered Kaworu outside his purview and thus someone else's problem, or did the German have some objective that truly did not have a part for Kaworu to play? Now that he was in Tokyo-3 the boy might actually have a chance to find out. He chuckled. Maria Vincennes. Yes, she would be a good starting point to test the limits of what humans termed free will.

* * *

Hikari clutched at her right side again. She was still not entirely over the loss of her arm but she was adjusting. The nurses and doctors assigned to her care had all been very kind and accommodating, both in helping her but in also letting Hikari do some things for herself. They seemed to understand that being pampered too much could be as soul crushing as being ignored. Toji on the other hand was still trying to figure out that balance. Whenever he was around her boyfriend insisted on doing everything for her. Hikari let him, not because she was that helpless but because a part of her drew strength and reassurance from his display of affection for her. That was more important to her self-confidence right now than not being treated as a complete invalid. Presently however she was simply resting in her bed, letting the boy fill her in on current events.

"-and apparently Shin-man's stuck inside his EVA or something," Toji said. "Shikinami-san's been skipping school, supposedly she's helping somehow with the plan to try to get him out, but Makinami-san's still been attending regularly. According to her NERV's not gonna try repairing her EVA, so she doesn't have much ta do here anymore."

The girl had already been told about the near-disaster that was the battle against Zeruel and though she had yet to lay eyes upon the actual damage the Angel had wrought Toji's descriptions were vivid enough for her to get the basic picture. That it attacked so soon after the Angel that hijacked her own EVA must have pushed the pilots to the near breaking point.

"Speaking of which, have you thanked Asuka-san for helping you sneak into the base?" Hikari asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Toji said. "Ya don't need ta nag me bout that, it's already taken care of."

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"By proxy!" Toji admitted quickly. "I haven't seen her since I first came to visit you, she's been holed up down here ever since and I'm only cleared for this part of the base."

"Well, fair enough," Hikari said. "Though I expect you to convey your gratitude directly once the opportunity arises."

The boy sighed. "If you say so."

"I do," Hikari said with a slight smile.

She was doing a bit more of that with each day, smiling. For that Toji was more than prepared to put up with her nagging.

The door opened and the two teens looked over to see Soren and another foreigner enter. Toji immediately stood and bowed.

"Reimer-san."

"Herr Suzuhara," Soren greeted, then nodded to Hikari. "Fraulein Horaki."

Hikari returned the nod. "Reimer-san. Thank you for everything."

"You answered the call of duty when NERV issued it," Soren said. "It is now our turn to reciprocate." Soren gestured to the woman accompanying him. "This is Dr. Erica Simmons of Morgenroete, she is a cybernetics and prosthetics expert and will be working with you to design and tune your new arm."

Hikari's eyes went wide. Toji added a hanging jaw to his reaction. Erica smiled at the two.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances," the woman said in flawless Japanese. "Though I'm sure all of us here wish my services had not been required, I will do my best to ensure that you are restored what you have lost to the best of my ability, Horaki-san."

Soren nodded to Erica. "I will leave you to your patient, Frau Doktor."

The German man stepped out from the room, his smartphone ringing just as the door closed.

"Yes?"

"Soren, get down here to Ritsuko's lab, she has something to show us," Amanda said without preamble.

"On my way," the man said, hanging up without waiting for further acknowledgment.

A few minutes later Soren entered the room to find Misato, Maya, and Madison also present.

"Good, you're here," Ritsuko said. "I'll try to make this quick, but it pertains to what happened to Pilot Horaki. Maya, if you would start?"

"Yes sempai," Maya said, bringing up an image of what looked to be some cells on the terminal she was sitting at. "After Pilot Horaki was extracted from the entry plug, the doctors found that her right arm was necrotizing for unexplained reasons. They amputated but preserved the arm for further examination. These are what the cells making up her arm looked like, at least some of the more intact ones. I thought they looked familiar so I pulled up our records from when Ireul infected Shinji-kun and did a comparison." Another image opened up next to the first. "There was a partial match, Bardiel's cellular structure definitely has similarities to Ireul's."

"That would make sense," Amanda said. "Both Angels were parasitic in nature."

"That's what I thought as well," Maya said. "It appears that the Angel had partially assimilated Horaki-san's arm but when the entry plug was removed, or the Angel's core destroyed, its cells died."

Amanda hissed. "We got damn lucky there."

Maya nodded. "Yes. If it had managed to assimilate more of Horaki-san's body…"

Nothing more needed to be said. As Amanda had verbalized, they had been very, very luck with Hikari.

"Anyway, I showed these results to sempai and she had an idea," Maya moved the conversation along.

"We keep stocks of the pilots' blood for emergency transfusions as necessary," Ritsuko said. "Some of the more recent samples from Shinji-kun include, well, Ireul's reprogrammed cells, and I mixed some of the dead cells from Bardiel into one of those samples to see what would happen." Ritsuko clicked open a file on her own computer. "This is a recording, sped up somewhat, of what happened at the microscopic level. I had dyed the cells from Bardiel blue to make them easier to pick out."

The others leaned in over Ritsuko's shoulder to get a better view. As they watched over the span of the minute or so the video ran the blue cells from Bardiel ruptured one after the other before they completely disappeared.

"What did I just watch there?" Misato asked.

"It would appear that Shinji-kun, after Ireul integrated with his body, acquired a supercharged immune system," Ritsuko said. "My current hypothesis is that Ireul's cells now identify themselves as Shinji and so will destroy any foreign substance that they encounter, including cells of other Angels."

"Interesting," Amanda said. "Would this have protected Shinji if he had been inside Unit 03 instead of Hikari?"

"Possibly," Ritsuko said. "This test was done with dead cells from Bardiel after all, we would need living cells to determine just how effective Shinji's immune system really is, assuming we wanted to even risk it."

"Which we're not," Misato stated coldly.

Ritsuko nodded. "There is also the question of whether, assuming the salvage operation works, Shinji-kun's restored body will still have Ireul's cells."

Amanda frowned. "Ritsuko, what about Asuka?"

"I thought of that as well," Ritsuko said, "and as far as I can tell Asuka is completely clean. The Angel merged with Unit 02, not with her."

"Good," Misato declared.

"Maybe," Amanda said. "This is the second parasitic Angel we've encountered and I'm not willing to rule out us having to deal with more. If there's a way to develop some kind of defense against them I think it's something worth pursuing."

Ritsuko leaned back with a thoughtful look. "That could prove tricky. Assuming Shinji retains his Angelic aspect, Ireul's cells would still be attuned to him. I can't exactly reprogram them to think they're someone else, despite their discrete nature those cells make up a single entity and can't be split."

"I'm not sure I like where this conversation is going," Misato cut in. "Why should we have to rely on Angels to protect our pilots from other Angels? We should try to minimize our dependency on them and rely on human created defenses."

The irony of the woman's words was not lost on several of those present, including Misato herself. But she did have a point.

"Nanotechnology is still in something of an infancy right now," Ritsuko said, "so I'm not sure we could come up with a viable defense in the short term. At least not quickly enough to do us any good against the remaining Angels."

"I suppose for now we'll file this away for things to consider after we win," Amanda said with a sigh.

Unfortunate, that. Such a defense would have come in very handy when Armisael arrived.

"Unit 02 already has an Angel merged with it," Soren suddenly said. "Would that not offer some defense, at least if the target is the EVA instead of the pilot?"

"Possibly," Ritsuko said with a shrug. "Ultimately we won't know unless we actually do encounter another parasite type."

"I'd just as rather we not find out," Maya muttered.

To the woman's surprise that earned her a clap on the back from Madison.

"Truer words have never been spoken," Madison said with a smile. "Why invite trouble when we could just as well do without it?"

Because it would becoming whether it was invited or not, Amanda thought glumly. But unfortunately Ritsuko was right, they would not know if it would work or not until Armisael itself did show up. Hopefully it would not be too late by then.

* * *

Dr. Wilhelm Langley was by any measure a highly intelligent man. His work in quantum mechanics was what originally attracted GEHIRN's attention and played at least a part in his relationship with Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami, an equally brilliant scientist in the field of metaphysical biology. There was no doubt in Wilhelm's mind that their daughter Asuka would surpass both her parents once she came of age and he felt a not small amount of pride at what his daughter was already doing. A great deal of fear and guilt as well considering the dangers and the traumas her duties inflicted upon her. Still, since the thawing of emotions that had occurred over the past few months Wilhelm had felt more and more like he and Asuka were becoming like the father and daughter they should have been. As such he had been looking forward to a trip to NERV-Tokyo.

His arrival however was not how he had imagined it. HQ was still dealing with the aftermath of Zeruel's attack. The combined deployment of five EVA units had barely stopped the Angel though the end result saw the number of effectives reduced to just two EVAs. Unit 00 was destroyed outright while Unit 05 had been effectively written off. Unit 04 would require extensive though fortunately not time consuming repair while Unit 02 was more or less already ready to go. With the Mark 06 present in theory that gave NERV two EVAs to deploy in case another angel attacked. Unit 01 however was another matter entirely and was what ultimately led to Wilhelm's long belated trip to Tokyo-3 as it was felt his expertise in quantum mechanics might help in the recovery operation of Unit 01's pilot. A pilot who apparently his daughter had fallen in love with.

Like many fathers Wilhelm was uneasy with the notion of his little girl growing up and settling down with some man. But when he arrived at the Geofront and his daughter's first act upon their meeting was to latch onto him and plead with him that he was going to get the younger Ikari back, Wilhelm knew that if he put anything less than all his ability and will into the recovery attempt he would have utterly failed as a father. Again. And so he spent most of his working hours down in the labs running simulations, consulting with Dr. Akagi and her team, and doing his best to refine the brilliant but almost certainly long shot procedure created by the elder Akagi a decade ago for a very similar situation. He tried not to linger on the fact that that attempt had not been a success.

The door slid open and another fellow German entered but Wilhelm was so fixated on the monitor that he did not even notice.

"Dr. Langley."

With a start he spun about on his chair. "Oh! Captain-no, Colonel Sommer, my apologies. I was-"

"Burning your eyes out looking at the screen," Amanda finished for him. "When was the last time you slept in a proper bed?"

Wilhelm scratched his head. "I'm, not sure."

Amanda looked at her watch and then back at Wilhelm. "Doctor. It's 6AM right now and something tells me that you haven't left this office since 10 last night when I last checked up on you. Go back to your room and get some actual sleep."

"No, I'm okay," Wilhelm insisted. "I managed to get in some naps so…"

Amanda sighed. "Doctor. Don't make me tell Asuka that you're neglecting your health."

Wilhelm blinked. Not too long ago that would not have been much of a threat. Now though it really meant something. The man smiled wirily and nodded.

"Alright colonel, you win, even if you don't fight fair. I'll go get some sleep."

"I also have tranq rounds for the truly hopeless cases," Amanda said with a beatific smile.

"That, is more than a tad frightening," Wilhelm admitted as he headed for the door.

It slid open just as he reached it and Asuka nearly barreled into her father.

"Papa!"

"Oh, Asuka. What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you," the girl said, her eyes narrowing. "Papa, did you stay up all last night?"

"Oh uh, I was actually just about to go get some sleep," Wilhelm said quickly. "I kind of lost track of time so uh…"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Why are all the men in my life idiots." She grabbed hold of her father's arm. "C'mon, you need to go take a shower and get a change of others, otherwise you'll wake up all itchy."

Wilhelm smiled as he was led away by his daughter. This was not how he had expected his visit to Tokyo-3 to go, but right now that was just fine.

"Asuka," he spoke up.

"Yes Papa?"

"After this is over, do you think you'll come back to Germany, or do you intend to stay here in Japan?"

The girl's grip tightened ever so slightly. "I don't know yet. I'll definitely come back for a while, there's a lot of time to make up for. But, Tokyo-3 is as much my home now as Berlin."

"I see," Wilhelm said. "Well Asuka, I just want you to know, wherever you do decide to make your home, you'll always have a place to come back to in Berlin."

Asuka looked back and beamed her father a smile. "I know Papa. And thanks."

Wilhelm felt his heart ache a bit. How long had it been since he saw a genuine smile on his daughter's face? Too long. He smiled back. He was going to make damn sure she never had reason to lose it again.

* * *

"Pilot Vincennes."

Maria almost jumped as she turned to face the speaker. It was Kaworu, the creepy new pilot of the Mark 06, an EVA she had not even known existed.

"Pilot Nagisa," Maria replied in the same formal tone.

The mysterious EVA's pilot was even more of an enigma and the existence of the two indicated that there were things Maria was not privy to even as the granddaughter of a SEELE councilmember. She had made some inquiries to Soren and the German man had actually be somewhat forthcoming. At this point Maria knew that Kaworu was another hybrid, like the Colonel himself but slightly more refined. Seeing as how lethally competent the Colonel was Maria became a bit more curious as to just what this Kaworu Nagisa was capable of.

Interestingly the other pilots seemed to be avoiding him. Asuka, Maria knew was actively involving herself with the Unit 01 salvage operation because of some romantic inclination for the Third Child, so was not so much as avoiding Kaworu as she was too busy to pay him any attention. That and she seemed to resent the boy for having impaled Unit 01 with the Spear of Cassius, even if that was the only thing that had prevented a premature triggering of Third Impact. Not that the German girl was aware of the true purpose of NERV but her ignorance did not excuse her rudeness in Maria's opinion.

Mari on the other hand had sniffed Kaworu once, made a comment about him not being normal, and proceeded to actively turn away every time he might approach her. The British girl's actions were, in Maria's opinion, even more inexplicable than Asuka's. It was almost as if she really could determine a character's attributes by smell alone. Maria doubted that to be the case but at this point the other girl was creeping her out almost as Kaworu.

Maria on the other hand had remained open to Kaworu's approaches and they had spoken on a number of occasions. Not that she could claim to understand him any better.

"I have come across a most interesting work," Kaworu said. "It was by a German philosopher called Nietzsche. Have you heard of him?"

Maria frowned. "Only in passing."

"He presented a most interesting thesis regarding the path humanity must take after the death of your Gods. To affirm the live you have now instead of pining for the nothingness that comes with death. Interesting, no, that his fellow German Kiel Lorenz would seek the very antithesis of that ideal."

"Mr. Lorenz seeks to unit all humanity, to have us discard our differences and end the suffering that these differences spawn."

"A most, Asiatic notion, subliming the self into the masses and conforming instead of rising," Kaworu said. "I find it curious that the ones spearheading Instrumentality are those from cultures that praise the concept of individuality and self-determination. Have you grown tired of such gifts?"

"Those gifts have costs," Maria said. "Costs that humanity has proven unable to bear not once, but twice."

"Your World Wars. How close did humanity come to extinction due to the second? How close have you come in your quest for Instrumentality? What is the difference between preserving and ending free will if the cost is the same?"

"The difference is that the cost must only be paid once for the final peace," Maria said confidently, "whereas the price in blood and suffering will never end for the preservation of free will."

"Some seem to believe that cost worth it," Kaworu said. "But whomever they might be, are you not concerned it will be your blood they use for the toll?"

Maria flinched. That struck far closer to home than she would have liked. Her family did not know this but Maria had heard whisperings, rumors of a sacrifice being necessary for Instrumentality. A sacrifice that needed to be an EVA pilot. Previously Maria had been confident that it would be one of the others. There were supposed to be six of them after all so the chances of Maria herself ending up as the sacrifice would only have been about 16%. It went up to 20% if one took into account the First Child's status as a catalyst. But still Maria had been certain it would be one of the others. She was a Vincennes after all and the only pilot privileged enough to know the true purpose of NERV and the EVAs. Now though the number of active pilots had been reduced to four, three of whom might be viable sacrifices. Two if the rumors about Unit 01 also being a necessary catalyst was true. A 50% chance was a lot less comforting than even a 20% chance.

"I have no doubt that I will see Instrumentality's fruition," Maria finally stated.

The smile on Kaworu's face did not disappear. "You choose to hold to your conviction. That will be the difference between now and after. Well, should you ever find an interest in alternative thoughts, I am sure Colonel Sommer would be happy to lend you her copy of Nietzsche's nachlass."

The girl froze.

"Good day to you, Pilot Vincennes," Kaworu said.

Maria barely heard him as her mind raced. Why would Amanda Sommer, the favored granddaughter and agent of Kiel Lorenz, have a copy of Nietzsche's works? From what Kaworu had just said the German philosopher was obviously opposed to the goal Amanda had dedicated her life to. Was Kaworu telling her the truth? Or was he just screwing with her mind? The unease in Maria grew.

* * *

Fuyutsuki groaned as he pulled himself out of bed.

"Take it easy," Ritsuko advised. "A man your age will not bounce back as quickly from such injuries."

"I am, painfully aware of this point," the former teacher said with a slight smile.

The injuries in question were the result of him being caught in a tunnel collapse when Zeruel attacked, effectively taking him out of play for not just the battle but the month that followed. Only now was he getting back on his feet.

"Well you've been cleared for return to active duty," Ritsuko said, jotting something down on the clipboard before hanging it back on the bed frame. "If you need anything else one of the other nurses or doctors will see to it, I need to get back to the cages."

"The salvage operation is today, is it not?" Fuyutsuki asked.

Ritsuko nodded. "It's been a busy month, but quite a lot has been done."

Fuyutsuki chuckled. "Remarkable at how, efficient, everything has run."

The doctor regarded the elderly man, knowing exactly what he meant. "People are moving with purpose again. They nearly lost it after Bardiel. It's been given back to them."

"By Colonel Rimer and Colonel Sommer," Fuyutsuki noted dryly.

"Indeed," Ritsuko said. "You might want to think about whether they could give some to you as well."

Fuyutsuki watched Ritsuko leave with furrowed brows. Somehow the German couple had managed to win Ritsuko over to their side, something he would have thought impossible considering the psychological hold Ikari had had on the woman. What had they offered her that could break that hold? And could they offer the same to him, releasing him from the shackles that were Yui's ghost? Fuyutsuki grimaced. He was too old for change, even if for the better.

The old man finished dressing himself, once more in the brown uniform of NERV's deputy commander. As far as he knew that position was still his, neither Reimer nor Sommer making any moves to strip him of the post. Their inaction was more than a little puzzling but so long as he continued holding the position he would carry out his duties.

Fuyutsuki made his way down to the secondary command center, the primary one in the upper levels of Central Dogma likely out of commission until after the Angels were all defeated. As he entered however he saw the men and women normally manning the stations all standing at attention. Fuyutsuki looked on curiously. He doubted they were doing this for him.

"Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki," Amanda greeted. "If you would please stand over here."

Fuyutsuki nodded and moved over to the designated location. He had apparently walked in on something preplanned, something his participation had not been expected or asked for. Now that he was here however the auditor seemed fine with letting him stay. That likely meant it was nothing untoward and so Fuyutsuki contented himself to wait. There was enough time for him to take note of the other people around. Not just the operators but the junior command officers, but Colonel Kayabuki and Major Kudo were also present. Interesting. A few minutes later Fuyutsuki could hear the voice of a confused and slightly irate woman closing on the command center.

"Aren't we supposed to be preparing for the salvage op?" Misato could be heard complaining. "What do they need me in the command center for?"

"You'll see," Ritsuko's voice answered back.

"Is this going to take long?" the petulant tone of the Second Child echoed her commanding officer's impatience. "I want to do another review of the parameters before we try reflashing Unit 01's firmware."

A chuckle sounded. "I've already reviewed your code Asuka, and you did very well. In fact after all this is over, you should look into a career in the software industry."

"Hah, no thanks, it's all a bunch of dweebs that haven't seen a real woman…in…ages…"

The girl's complaints trailed off as they finally entered the command center and caught sight of the very thing that had taken Fuyutsuki by surprise. By now it was evident that not just the Second Child but also the Fourth and Fifth were also accompanying the doctor and major. Misato looked about and then back at her friend.

"Ritsuko, what's this about?"

"Attention to orders!" Amanda cried out, causing Misato, Asuka, Mari, and Maria to all snap rigid.

Soren stepped out from next to Amanda. "Colonel Katsuragi, step forth."

Misato did so, falling in line in front of the German man.

"Colonel Sommer."

Amanda stepped forth and presented Soren with a red folder. The man accepted and opened it.

"The United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly has reposed trust and confidence in the valor, integrity, and honor of Katsuragi, Misato," Soren read. "In view of these qualities and her demonstrated leadership abilities and dedication to the service of humanity, she is therefore promoted from the rank of major to colonel."

Misato's eyes widened. So did the eyes of the pilots. That was a jump of two grades, even if Misato had been acting with that rank's authority for some time now.

"Promotion is effective 01 December, 2015 with a date of rank of 01, December, 2015." Soren closed the folder. "Colonel Katsuragi is furthermore hereby appointed as Commander of NERV-Tokyo, with the acting authority of brigadier general."

Misato managed a slight squeak. Soren's mouth twitched into a slight smile as he saluted.

"Congratulations, General Katsuragi."

All the other men and women present raised their hands as well. The newly minted colonel/general managed to snap a salute in response, one she held for way longer than she really needed to as she absorbed the shock of what had happened. Soren took a step back as Amanda and Madison came forth, removing the major insignias on Misato's field jacket before sticking on the cross-winged eagle of a full UN colonel. They each saluted in turn before Amanda threw her arms around Misato, eliciting a cry of surprise from the woman. Madison wasted no time coming in from the other side, cackling as she did so. Applause and laughter rippled through the room. They all needed this. And if the attempt to save the Third and just possibly the First Child succeeded, today would be a very good day indeed.

End of Chapter 36

I'm pretty sure I've made clear that any holes in information are almost always intentional on my part and is because I intend to employ the filling in of said hole at a later date for plot purposes. And some will be left hanging for use in a potential sequel.

I've ending up having to split up the chapter. We're almost at 9000 words and the actual extraction process and aftermath is likely to take another two or three thousand words. I generally try to keep my chapters between six and eight thousand words. Anything less and I don't feel like I've made it worth my reader's while to bother with a chapter and anything more and I feel like I'm risking people getting too drained. So I decided to end it on a slight high note before things get to the messy stage. Let's see if I can actually keep within my self-imposed limit of 50 chapters.

If I ever do a remastered version of this fic, one of the things that I am almost certainly going to change is introducing Nietzsche's philosophy (the original one, not the twisted version that was hijacked by the Nazis) much, much earlier. In retrospect it's almost perfect as an antithesis to what SEELE is trying to achieve and I really should have sprinkled it around the entire story. I had read up on it in the past but had forgotten about it until like this week. I'll definitely be working it into future chapters/conversations.

The promotion spiel Soren read was a modified version of what the US army does for promoting its officers. And yes, I am aware that she just got jumped two grades after barely spending any time in grade as a major. I'm, stretching the realism here a bit but to be frank I'm still not abusing it nearly as badly as say the Evangelion Anima series did by jumping her to a major general. My Misato at least is still formally a colonel with only the acting authority of a general. And I think I've built in enough justifications and foreshadowing for her promotion.

Anyway, drop a review with your thoughts if you have any. Oh and no, I did not introduce another sidestepper this chapter. Just wanted to make that explicit.

I'll be in New York for the rest of the week and so won't be getting much writing done, so next update will be a while. Well, a while relative to my usual update schedule. And also I'm switching back to _A Cold Calculus_ for the next chapter I'm writing.


	38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Letztendlich

The boy felt comfortable and warm, a serenity that he could not recall having ever experienced. No, that was not entirely true, somewhere deep in his memories there was a time when he felt certain he had felt this warmth before. Why else would it all seem so familiar? He allowed himself to sink deeper into the feeling.

"Ikari-kun."

The boy's mind stirred. That voice sounded so familiar.

"Shinji."

A similar, but distinct voice. Or were they the same? It was hard to tell. But they were calling for him.

"Are you happy?"

The boy barely registered the question. "What?"

"Have you found happiness?"

Shinji's thoughts to everything he had experienced, all the pain and suffering since his arrival in Tokyo-3. His father's continued coldness and the complete disregard the man showed for anything Shinji cared about. But there were also the new people he met, Misato, Amanda, Reimer, Kaji, all adults that took far greater interest in him than his biological father ever did. For that matter Kaji and Reimer especially took the time to teach him things. And Misato, Misato was willing to make the effort to be the mother he no longer hand despite only knowing him for a few months. So had he found happiness?

"Yeah, I think I have," he muttered.

"Ikari-kun."

Thoughts of other people surfaced. Rei and their disastrous first conversation which ended with her slapping him, the proud Asuka dragging him along to fight Gaghiel, and the accidental meeting with Mayumi that changed both their lives.

"Mayumi," Shinji whispered.

The first girl Shinji had ever genuinely liked. Not just as a person but as someone he wanted to truly know, to share with her pieces of his life. The girl that died in his arms before they could take that step forward together. The pain those memories caused pushed Shinji to seek that familiar warmth again. His thoughts grew hazy.

"Ikari-kun."

"Ayanami," the boy muttered.

The thoughts of the strange blue haired girl, his sister, resurfaced and forced his mind to remain aware. Rei Ayanami. An enigma since they first saw each other, Rei wrapped in bandages and prepared to pilot Unit 01 even so. Him wanting nothing more than to run away and deny reality.

"Ayanami."

The sister whose EVA he had seen consumed by that unstoppable juggernaut Zeruel. The girl he remembered embracing within Unit 01 after he tore her free from the coldness that was the Angel's core. The girl he had saved before he felt himself disappearing into his own EVA.

Shinji blinked. As he did so the boy became aware of his surroundings, a deserted train car that looked identical to the ones that ran through Tokyo-3. No, not entirely deserted. Seated across from him was Rei in her school uniform.

"Ayanami?" Shinji said in confusion.

"Ikari-kun," the girl responded with her usual monotone.

Gone were the inflections Shinji had noticed working their way into her speech, the tiny notes of emotion that hinted at the girl's thoughts. This was the Ayanami that he had accidentally walked in on when she was showering and nonchalantly dried and dressed herself in his presence.

"Ayanami? Are you okay?"

The visage of the girl flickered. Shinji rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his sight. What he saw when he opened them again was even more confounding. An adult woman with sholder length brown hair sat before him, wearing a pink shirt underneath a white labcoat. Shinji's eyes widened.

"Mom?"

The woman smiled. "Shinji."

Light flashed through the train as if the side Shinji was standing on was directly in the path of sunlight. The boy winced and blinked but when he could see clearly again the seat across from him was empty. Shinji looked about.

"What's going on?" A beat. "Where am I?"

"Have you thought of any names yet?" the boy heard.

"Mom?"

"If it's a boy, Shinji," a male voice sounded. "If it's a girl, Rei."

Shinji's eyes widened. He recognized that voice.

"Shinji, Rei," the woman's voice repeated. "Shinji, Rei." A chuckle sounded.

"Mom?" And more hesitantly. "Dad?"

The train disappeared and Shinji found himself standing in what looked like a campus of some sort. Off in the distance below a tree he could make out two figures. The woman was faced away from him and seemed to laugh at something her companion said. The man, was a scruffy looking guy that seemed almost shy as he spoke with the woman. Shinji watched, unable to hear what was going on but identifying the two figures easily enough. It was his parents, apparently when they were still university students.

"What's going on?" Shinji wondered. "Why am I seeing any of this? How am I seeing any of this?"

The scene once more shifted, this time the young man that was his father being replaced by an older one wearing glasses. Accompanying him was a little, blue haired girl.

"Oh, Commander Ikari," a woman with dark brown hair greeted. "Huh? I thought you had a son?"

"This is Ayanami Rei, she's the daughter of a friend that I've been asked to look after," Gendo replied.

"Well, how do you do, Rei-chan," the woman said, bending down to smile at Rei.

Rei looked up at the woman, eliciting a flinch. Shinji watched all this in fascination. What was this supposed to mean? And then Rei was alone, wandering the halls of a place that looked suspiciously like NERV HQ. Eventually she made her way to what appeared to be the command center, walking up behind that brown haired woman in a lab coat from before. The woman turned around as she noticed the girl.

"Oh, what are you doing here, Rei-chan?"

"I'm lost," Rei replied simply.

"Is that so? Well, would you like to come with me?"

"No thanks, old hag."

The woman frowned. "Now that's not a nice thing to say, Rei."

"But that's what you're called, old hag."

"Stop that, or I'll get angry," the woman said. "Who told you I was called that?"

"Commander Ikari," Rei answered immediately.

The woman froze. "What?"

"He said you were nothing but an old hag," Rei continued, "that you're really pushy but you're not needed anymore."

The woman's composure collapsed. "You brat, you think you can just say those things to me!?"

She grabbed hold of Rei's neck. Shinji sucked in a sharp breath.

"I'll teach you to mock me!"

"Stop!" the boy cried.

He tried to reach out, to grab the woman's arms and pry her hands off Rei. But he was rooted to the spot, no matter how hard he tried to run the woman and Rei always that far away. And then it was over. Rei's head slumped to the side, her eyes blank. The woman stared at the motionless body, her own eyes taking on a crazed look.

"Wha-what have I done?" She started breaking down into hysterics. "What have I done!?"

She shoved Rei's body aside and looked down from the deck. Down below were three boxes that Shinji recalled seeing in HQ though he had never bothered learning what they were for.

"He doesn't need me," the woman said bitterly.

With a scream of anguish the woman threw herself off. Shinji flinched, squeezing his eyes shut even as he heard the sickening thud. When he opened them again he was mercifully no longer in the command center.

"It's alright if I die," Rei's voice said. "I can be replaced."

The relief did not last long as the room that Shinji now found himself in was not exactly an improvement over the command center. There was little light save for in the center where a large tube stood. The liquid inside bubbled as the small child inside seemingly took a breath.

"Ayanami?" Shinji said.

"The transfer was a success," Shinji heard a man say. "I'm reading a stable pattern."

"Good," a more familiar voice said. "Decant her."

"Father," Shinji growled.

The liquid drained from the tube and the young Rei coughed as air and LCL mixed in her lungs. The tube opened and Gendo stood over the girl.

"Identify yourself," he ordered.

Rei wheezed as she looked up at Gendo, struggling to speak.

"A-ah-aya…"

Gendo bent down and lifted Rei's head by her chin. "Identify yourself."

"Ayanami," the girl sputtered, "Rei."

The man nodded and stood. "Good, the test was a success. Get her cleaned up."

"Yes sir."

Without another word Gendo turned and left the shivering girl. With every moment Shinji fell his anger rise. Was this what Rei had meant when she said she was replaceable? That she could somehow be revived after dying? Anger boiled in the boy as he gazed at the retreating back of his father.

"You bastard," he growled.

Gendo continued walking away.

"You monster," Shinji said louder.

The man's back continued to recede.

"You son of a bitch!" the boy screamed.

Gendo suddenly stopped. He turned slightly, glancing back with a look of mild confusion. Shinji stared at his father intently. Had he somehow reached into this event? Could he actually affect what was going on? The boy took a step forward.

* * *

Amanda's eyes narrowed and she mentally threw Soren a look.

"That was a resonance just now," she said silently.

The German man nodded, his action as unseen as Amanda's comment was unheard by the NERV personnel bustling about around them preparing to begin the salvage operation.

"Shinji may be accidentally tapping into Unit 01's power."

"Crap," the German woman said. "Can you shut the EVA down?"

"Not without directly synchronizing with Unit 01 myself," Soren said. "I may be able to disrupt his harmonization with that fixed event however."

Soren walked over to an empty chair and seated himself. None of the people present commented, there was no particular reason the German man needed to be standing for the operation. For that matter there was no reason for Amanda or Misato to be standing either. At the same time no one was prepared to suggest to the newly minted colonel and acting-general that she could sit down for this. And so they politely ignored Soren's action and went about their work.

"This will however be tricky," Soren said.

"No shit," Amanda agreed. "Will you need backup?"

A pause. "Madison, can you anchor me? Just in case I start resonating with Shinji myself."

"No problemo," Madison said as she swayed side to side in her chair.

The woman had seated herself the moment she entered the command center. No one had commented on her action either.

"I am beginning," Soren said.

"Good luck," Amanda said.

The German man made no response. He was already beginning to synchronize with Shinji.

"That's, strange," Ritsuko suddenly said.

"What?" Misato demanded.

"I'm reading elevated power readings from Unit 01's S2 organ," the doctor said, "but I can't tell where the power is going."

Misato frowned. "It's not about to blow on us is it?"

"No, there doesn't seem to be any risk of that, but the EVA is doing something," Ritsuko said. "I just can't figure out what."

"I'm not sure I like that," Misato said.

"And I'm sure I don't like that," the doctor retorted. "The last thing we need right now is another unknown variable."

"Should we wait until we can sort out what's going on?"

"No."

"No!"

The staff present switched their gazes between a certain German brunette and redhead. No one needed more than one guess for who was responsible for the more emphatic nay.

"Unit 01's S2 organ is considerably more stable and integrated than the engine developed for Unit 04," Amanda said before Asuka could make her more impassioned plea. "It has a higher threshold for drawing power before there is a risk of implosion. At the same time if we can get Shinji to desynchronize with Unit 01, that should shut the EVA down and cut off whatever is needing power from the S2 organ. On the other hand if we delayed and the power demand continues to grow we could find ourselves in quite a bit of trouble."

Ritsuko regarded Amanda somewhat skeptically before sighing. "I suppose that is also a point."

"I concur with Colonel Sommer," Wilhelm suddenly said. "Whatever is happening with the S2 organ right now does not seem to be drastically affecting the probability for the creation of negative energy particles, but based off of the data from the Second Branch we know that a sudden spike in energy demand can destabilize the equilibrium between the Sea of Dirac where the energy is removed from and the our own physical reality. There is a definite increase in power draw over time, we should try to cut it off as quickly as possible."

Asuka flashed her father a bright smile at his added support.

"It's your call Misato," Ritsuko said. "I'm not sure how this is going to affect the salvage attempt but Amanda and Dr. Langley both have very valid points."

Misato chewed her lip thoughtfully for a few seconds. "What the hell, fortune favors the bold. Get my boy out of there."

Ritsuko chuckled. "What about the saying, curiosity killed the cat?"

"Don't forget the second half," Misato said with a smile. "But satisfaction brought it back."

* * *

"Sir, is something wrong?" the male tech asked.

Gendo frowned as he looked about. He could have sworn he heard something but the harder he tried to recall the words the more they slipped from his mind. He was almost certain it was a curse but even that seemed less and less certain with every passing second.

"It is nothing," he finally said as he turned once more to leave.

Shinji took another step forward. It was like trying to wade his way through glue or something, his body moved so sluggishly that Shinji felt worn with every single motion.

"Stop!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

This time both Gendo and the technician glanced over at his position. Before their gazes fell upon him however Shinji felt a hand clap onto his shoulder and his head began spinning. The boy just barely managed to retain his focus on his father but it was apparent that Gendo saw nothing when he looked in Shinji's direction.

"Did you say something sir?" the tech asked.

Gendo frowned as he looked about. "No, no I did not."

It was now the tech's turn to look about, his own motions considerably more nervous that the commander's. Neither found anything though and Gendo turned once more to leave. The man's motions however slowed until he completely froze mid step. Shinji turned about, his own body moving more smoothly even if still a bit slowly. When he looked behind himself he saw, himself.

"What?"

The other Shinji frowned at him. "You cannot change the past."

Shinji glared at his copy. "I'm not letting him get away with this!"

"He will not," his other self said. "But if retribution is visited upon him now then humanity will die with our father."

Shinji frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The NERV needed to fight the Angels can only be forged by Gendo Ikari. Without NERV the Angels will triumph and initiate Third Impact."

"But-but Ayanami is suffering because of him! How many more times will she die and be brought back like this!?"

"This will be the only occurrence," the other Shinji said. "The Ayanami that you saw reborn is the same one you accepted as your sister. And until you enter her life, the only person that gave any thought to her wellbeing was our father."

"What wellbeing?" Shinji hissed. "He let her die to, test, her being reborn!"

"In point of fact, he did it to reset Ayanami," the other Shinji said. "She had already gone insane from an early attempt to synchronize with Unit 00."

Shinji blinked in surprise. "What?"

"She had already gone insane from an early attempt to synchronize with Unit 00," the other Shinji repeated.

"How do you know this?" Shinji demanded.

"Because I am a temporally-displaced you," the other Shinji replied.

The boy stared at his other, self. "You're me, but at a different point in time?"

"Correct," Soren lied with such perfect fluidity that the look of disbelief Shinji gave him came from sheer shock instead of from seeing through the lie.

"But, how?"

"The how is irrelevant," Soren said, "only the why matters. I am here to make sure you do not deviate from the established timeline, much as I experienced a temporally-displaced version of myself stopping me when I nearly did the same. I am now that version myself and much as I did not change the timeline you will not either."

"And why shouldn't I?" Shinji spat.

"Because we win," Soren stated. "We defeat the Angels, we save humanity, and we forge a future that I am proud of, one where those we care about find actual happiness."

That caught Shinji's attention. "They, do?"

"Yes. And I know that we would not jeopardize that, especially not for a petty reason like vengeance," Soren lied again. "So you will not change the timeline just as I did not."

Shinji regarded his other self. "What about Ayanami?"

"She returns to us, battered and almost broken, but we help her heal and she finds a life she feels is worth living."

The boy relaxed visibly and the scene about them began moving once more. The soles of Gendo's shoes could be heard clicking as he left the room, this time with no further interruptions. Shinji however still continued to resonate with this fixed point. Soren knew why even before the boy verbalized his conflicted feelings.

"We can't just leave Ayanami like this," he said.

Soren turned and walked over to the heavily breathing Rei. He knelt down and gently stroked the girl's hair. Her breathing eased and she closed her eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep.

"We didn't," Soren stated, still kneeling at Ayanami's side.

Shinji let out a relieved sigh. The scene began to grow fuzzier as he stopped clinging to it so tightly. At the same time his other self began fading away.

"Wait!" Shinji cried. "When are you from!?"

Soren turned and smiled ever so slightly. "I was not told, and so neither will you be. Go back, Shinji. There's someone else waiting for you right now."

The boy blinked in confusion but his ears perked as another voice cut through.

"Baka Shinji," an irritated tone hissed. "Get your ass out of there already."

Shinji looked about. "Asuka?"

Everything was consumed in a stale white and Shinji felt his consciousness start fading once more. He fought to hold onto his thoughts but they became more and more fragmented. What were his mother and father talking about? What did that woman look like that Rei was introduced to? Was that Rei a child, or already a teen? Finally his consciousness was overcome. But one thought rang true.

I am Ikari Shinji.

Soren watched Shinji disappear as the boy regained his own sense of self and lost his connection to Unit 01. Not half bad, he applauded himself. The line of bullshit he had fed Shinji about being from the future had worked and the boy would return to his life with a conviction to see all this through to the end, even if he would be unable to exactly explain where this conviction was coming from. But that was fine, for even with all the lies Soren had told the essential points would be made truth in the end.

The man frowned as he sensed two of the three entities within Unit 01 turning their attention towards him. One was primitive, animalistic, operating on pure instinct and was therefore easily brushed aside. The other was highly intelligent and thoughtful and her gaze was harder to avoid. Soren did not even try.

"Yui Ikari."

The form of a middle aged woman appeared before Soren, her brown hair swaying slightly in the nothingness both floated in.

"You," she said. "What, are you?"

Soren's eyes hardened ever so slightly. "The man that will kill you."

Yui's eyes narrowed as she regarded the thing that had assumed her son's form. Soren however said nothing else before ending his indirect synchronization with Unit 01. He had said his piece and Yui could take all the time she wanted to ponder it. With any luck it would keep her unsettled until he carried through with his declaration.

* * *

Were the situation not as tense as it was Asuka's little outburst of frustration would have elicited a few chuckles from the assembled personnel. As it was a few still cracked grins. The girl's father was not one of them.

"Asuka, language," the man chided.

"Sorry Papa," Asuka said, sounding genuinely contrite.

"Maya, status," Ritsuko said, ignoring the interplay and focusing on the task at hand.

"All systems nominal, we're getting some minor reactions on the sensors already. I, I think this is going to work sempai!"

"Let's not get overconfident," Ritsuko said, though it was hard not to be somewhat optimistic with the readings they were getting. "Alright, increase power by another twelve percent. Let's see if we can cause Shinji-kun's signal to start resonating."

"Yes ma'am, increasing power now."

Within the entry plug the LCL began to visibly swirl.

The LCL inside the entry plug began flowing as it was excited by the energy being fed in.

"Signal strength is, becoming more coherent, but its amplitude is unchanged," Maya said.

Ritsuko nodded. "We were expecting this, the amplitude is only going to increase once Shinji-kun himself can self-differentiate. What we need to do is to get as clean a signal as possible to increase his chances of identifying between himself and the EVA."

"Yes ma'am," Maya said.

The various values and feeds being displayed meant nothing to the untrained eye and Misato was forced to simply take it on faith that things were going on. That did not stop her from staring intently at the screens however, something that the three UN attaches were also doing. Then again Amanda and Soren might actually be able to understand all that gibberish seeing as how deeply they were involved with SEELE's secrets.

"Amplitude shift!" Maya said excitedly. "We've got a major amplitude spike!"

"Good, match output of our own signal to match," Ritsuko said. "Give Shinji-kun's signal something to resonate with."

"Already on it," Maya said, her fingers dancing across the keyboard. "Signal matching to .001. The MAGI's filters are incorporating detected discrepancies."

"The plug depth is still at negative values," another tech said. "The power draw from the S2 organ has however disappeared, whatever it was doing before, it's stopped."

"One less thing to worry about," Ritsuko said. "No fluctuations at all with the plug depth?"

"No ma'am-wait, it's climbing, very slightly. There, it's tapered off again."

"The transition won't be gradual," Ritsuko said. "Once Shinji-kun can differentiate himself the separation is going to be quick. We just need to buffer him so that any feedback that occurs is minimized."

A beep sounded.

"We've got another amplitude spike," Maya said. "This one's even bigger."

"They should be coming on faster now," Ritsuko said.

Another beep.

"Amplitude is at 3% of standalone strength now!"

"If we hit 10% the signal will self-stabilize," Ritsuko said.

"C'mon Shinji," Misato muttered. "Come back to us."

Amanda smiled slightly. In another time and place Shinji would have felt so estranged from his life that he would have been sorely tempted to remain inside Unit 01. The few tenuous connections he had forced would eventually prove enough to draw him out but it was a damn close thing. Here and now however Shinji Ikari had a life, people who cared about him and who were not afraid to make sure the boy knew they cared about him. Shinji's ties were that much stronger and with just a little prodding the boy would want to return to them of his own volition. So the thinking went at least. And so far it was looking like they were right.

"There were no problems pulling Shinji back from the fixed event?" Amanda asked Soren mentally.

"No. I told him what he wanted to hear and he accepted it."

Amanda cast a frown in Soren's direction even as in the physical world she continued regarding the monitors. "I hope you didn't tell him anything we're not planning on fulfilling."

"Ensuring Rei survives is part of my agreement," Soren stated flatly.

"Yes, it is," Amanda assured her husband. "I'm more worried about what else you might have said to him."

"Nothing specific enough to cause us concern," Soren responded, presenting Amanda and the rest of the collective with the mnemonic of what had happened.

Amanda frowned. "Wait, you spoke with Yui Ikari? Wait, you threatened to kill her!?"

"That was the other half of our deal," Soren stated without a hint of apology.

"Goddamn it Soren," Amanda cursed. "Why would you tell her this though!? What if she interferes with the salvage operation!?"

Soren said nothing.

"Didn't think that through, did you?" Amanda said in irritation.

"Perhaps not," Soren admitted, a slight edge of anger in his voice.

"Signal strength at 5%," Maya said.

"We better pray she doesn't interfere," Amanda said. "Having Yui Ikari decide to take direct action would be a pretty big deviation from the score you agreed to, Soren."

The German man made no response and continued to watch the unfolding scene.

"7%," Maya announced. "9%!"

"Just a little more," Ritsuko said.

"It's holding steady at 9%," Maya said. "It's, almost as if there's something blocking it. Could it be it doesn't have enough energy to make the state change?"

"Possibly, but this depends as much on Shinji-kun wanting to separate and whether the EVA itself is willing to let him separate," Ritsuko said. "We just need to keep nudging him along and make sure Shinji-kun's signal doesn't backslide."

"Stubborn bitch," Soren swore mentally.

"Do not try to intervene again," Amanda said.

"We may not have a choice," Soren pointed out.

"On the contrary," the German woman said. "I'll just ask her for help."

Soren said nothing in response but the slight tilt of his head physically indicated he was leaving the matter in Amanda's hands. Amanda for her part wasted no time reaching out into the depths of the collective. Almost all of the collective had a presence in the physical world, almost all save one who was too crucial to the collective's integrity to let her wander about. It was to this linchpin that Amanda now made contact with and relayed the details about the issue at hand. No direct response was received. However the effect of the contact came to fruition quickly.

"9.8, 9.9, 9.99, 10.1%!" Maya shouted.

That was the last number the woman called out before it shot up to 99.9999999% after which point the computer stopped trying to display the significant digits even as the MAGI continued to crunch the numbers at ever finer resolutions. The video feed of the entry plug showed the LCL seemingly roiling about inside before cutting out entirely.

"What happened!?" Misato demanded.

"The camera circuitry just failed," Ritsuko said. "No, don't try to restore it! We need to let the process finish!"

Values continued to climb across the displays, all of them still flashing red but then one crossed into the merely dangerous of yellow.

"I've confirmed a heartbeat!" Maya said. "The sensors are picking up a heartbeat!"

Cheers erupted across the room.

"We're not finished yet," Ritsuko said, cutting off the premature celebrations. "Watch out for any discrepancies, Shinji-kun's body is basically reforming itself and until we verify all biometric readings we're not out of the woods!"

At the doctor's chiding the techs focused their attention solely on their respective duties once more. More numbers crossed into yellow and then one finally emerged into the green.

"Plug depth levels are now positive!" Maya declared. "I, I think he's stabilizing!"

"We're getting signal from the internal camera again," another tech reported. "Bringing the feed up!"

The main monitor flickered before the inside of the entry plug appeared once more. The white and blue plug suit was still floating about, empty of its previous wearer. Said wearer was however also visible, slumped down in the seat with his eyes closed.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried before dashing for the door.

The girl came to a halt, backtracked to give her father a tight hug, stopped in front of Ritsuko and bowed deeply, and proceeded to charge out of the room once more.

"Huh," Amanda remarked. "Well at least she has her priorities straight."

The tension in the room broke as laughter erupted. Misato even managed to join in before chasing after the redhead. Asuka was not the only one that wanted to be there when they got Shinji out of the entry plug. The boy had a lot of people waiting for him after all.

* * *

As Kaji entered the parking lot he found a familiar man leaning against his car.

"Yo," Kaji greeted. "Looking for me Soren?"

The German man nodded. "Ryoji. I need a favor."

The smile did not disappear from Kaji's expression even as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Color me surprised, I didn't think there was anything a humble chief inspector such as myself could do for you."

There was no humor on Soren's face but Kaji was used to that about his friend. The German's tone rarely changed regardless of whether he was serious, sarcastic, or joking. But there was an intensity radiating off the man right now that told Kaji he was dead serious.

"Well, let's hear it," Kaji said after a beat.

"I need you to break Ikari out of confinement."

This time it was Kaji whose expression turned flat. "Are you serious?"

"Quite."

Kaji frowned. "Why would you want Ikari free? Isn't he a threat to whatever scenario you and Amanda are cooking up?"

"In point of fact he has a somewhat critical role to play, one that is inconvenienced by his current incarceration."

"I'm afraid I'm going to need a bit more than that," Kaji said. "That man was dangerous enough, now that he's been backed into a corner I don't even want to think about what he might try."

Which was problematic seeing as the collective needed Gendo to carry out whatever his last great gambit was to lock in their own scenario, not that Soren could tell his friend this.

"I cannot tell you why we need Ikari free, but I can make this favor worth your while."

Kaji raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Soren reached into his suit and pulled out a CD case. He set it on the hood of Kaji's car.

"The committee's plan for the EVAs and Lilith after all the progeny of Adam are destroyed."

The UN inspector and special agent for the Japanese home ministry said nothing at first, instead regarding his friend thoughtfully.

"It's encrypted?" Kaji asked finally.

"Of course."

"And I presume nothing short of a MAGI could crack it," Kaji said with a wiry smile.

"Assuming it had a couple of centuries to work on it," Soren said, surprising his friend. "The MAGI is capable of considerable amounts of computation, but this particular encryption was designed to specifically thwart the MAGI."

"That's, impressive," Kaji said, "seeing as the MAGI can tap into ECHELON without much trouble."

Soren shrugged. "The Americans have always been better at playing op-force than securing their own systems."

"Maybe so." Kaji's gaze shifted his gaze to the CD. "So once the job is done, you'll give me the decryption key?"

The German nodded.

"Well with an offer like that, how can I refuse?" Kaji said. "I presume you need Ikari sprung alive from the joint."

"His death at that juncture would be, inconvenient."

"Duly noted," Kaji said. He walked over to the car and pocketed the CD. "When do you need him sprung?"

"Two weeks hence," Soren said. "No sooner. No later than three weeks from now."

"So I have a one week window. I'll see what I can do." Kaji opened his car door. "Well, hate to run but Misato's expecting me."

"Ryoji."

The man stopped, one foot in the vehicle.

"If you do this, SEELE will put a hit on you. You'll have to disappear for a little bit until the situation is, rectified."

Kaji stared at his friend. "You'll make sure nothing happens to Katsuragi?"

"Her survival is built into the scenario."

"Then that's good enough for me."

* * *

Consciousness returned to Shinji and he found himself staring at an all too familiar ceiling.

"This place again," he muttered.

The boy tried to rise when he noticed a slight pressure on his left arm. There was an accompanying warmth clutching his hand. Looking down he saw a mess of red hair sprawled over his side. Shinji blinked in surprise.

"Asuka."

The girl stirred slightly but did not wake. Shinji smiled and reached over with his right hand to caress the girl. The touch seemed to do the trick as she rose up groggily to look at Shinji.

"Good morning Asuka," Shinji said with a smile.

Asuka blinked a few times before her eyes went wide. Her expression quickly transformed into a glare though.

"Baka-Shinji."

Shinji frowned slightly. She was angry with him? What for? And if she was angry, why had she been had his side? Why did she still hold his hand? For that matter she was squeezing even tighter now.

"You almost left me," Asuka stated flatly.

And then Shinji realized what was going on. The girl's anger was a mask as she fought to hold back the tears that Shinji could see the glistening hints of in her eyes. Shinji placed his other hand atop the one already clutching his left.

"I would never leave you Asuka," he said, his face earnest and serious.

"Then promise me," Asuka said, no, pleaded. "Promise me that you'll always be there for me, you'll come whenever I call. Promise me."

"I-" Shinji began before stopping.

Asuka was looking at him intently, almost leaning in. Her eyes were shining now, expectation mixed in with those unshed tears. She wanted something from him. A promise, she had said. A promise and more. Shinji tightened his grip. He leaned in to meet her. At first it was a mere brush but then Shinji felt the softness of Asuka's lips press against his. The warmth from her touch suffused the boy and he felt Asuka tremble ever so slightly. Yet the girl continued to lean and drew herself against Shinji's form. The boy did not pull back, accepting Asuka as she clutched his hands and intertwined her lips with his. It was a promise, and a kiss.

End of Chapter 38

There, y'all happy? Ahem.

Well what do you know, I managed to get in some writing while in New York after all. And yes, the two are now officially, finally a couple. It only took two thirds (maybe three quarters) of the story to get there. The slow pacing was intentional, the two pilots had a lot of issues to work through before they could actually take that step. In fact this development is meant to parallel the progression of Asuka and Shinji's relationship in canon. With a much different conclusion of course.

I know a lot of writers of the Asuka x Shinji pairing like to have the two resolve their differences very early on and then proceed to tell a story of what is basically an established relationship. I personally don't find that very convincing. Something one needs to keep in mind is that these are two fourteen year olds, thirteen in Asuka's case. They can't possibly have the emotional maturity (even assuming we ignore their major psychological issues) to just jump into a relationship that has any chance of lasting. The two need the time to feel each other out and work out just what they want from each other and what the other is willing to give. In some respects that's what Asuka's been doing since meeting Shinji. She saw something of herself in the boy and got curious and so started feeling him out. Shinji obviously did not realize that was what Asuka was doing, at least initially, but he found himself reciprocating. After this back and forth the two have now reached a very basic understanding of each other. Now that they have crossed the threshold, so to speak, they can try to increase that understanding.

I can already hear readers asking themselves when the implied sex scene will be. Ya bunch of perverts. Cough.

So, any bets on who Amanda's little helper was? Anyone? Ahem.

We also learn a bit more about Soren and what he's personally getting out of all this. I'm pretty sure it's not what a lot of you might have originally assumed, though the hints for it have been sprinkled about the previous chapters. The big 'reveal' if we want to call it that is next chapter, so stay tuned. Heh.

One of the things that I haven't done a very good job with is establishing the extent of Kaji's relationship with Shinji. He's done much the same as he did in the series, helping the boy out here and there even if Soren has supplanted some of the acts. But at this point Shinji is supposed to regard Kaji as a guy he looks up to and is aware of the older man's rekindled relationship with Misato and the distinct possibility that he might end up with an adoptive father in addition to an adoptive mother. Shinji is not opposed to Kaji being that adoptive father. Unfortunately I literally kept forgetting to write the scenes for their interactions and since I started actually updating serially I no longer have the chance to go back and fix stuff retroactively. If I ever do a definitive version, to clean up the text and etc, expect such scenes to be strategically integrated in.

This was definitely one of the shorter chapters if not the shortest, but I wanted to end on what was a relatively high note. Cause Armisael is up next. And we all know what that means.

Anyway, drop a line on what you all think.


	39. Chapter 38

Note: I substantially rewrote the second half of this chapter, hence the repost. Search for "Are we actually still on track?" to get to the rewritten part. Some bits were preserved/reused but the changes were substantive enough for me to take down and repost this chapter. Also, new author notes.

Chapter 38: Hoffnung

The lights in the room came on, momentarily blinding the boy before his eyes adjusted. When he could see clearly again it took him a moment to realize that a pair of eyes were staring back at him. A pair of really, really big eyes.

"Huh." The boy started flipping through his manual again.

Misato and Ritsuko exchanged looks. A subdued reaction like that was not what either woman was expecting.

"You won't find it in the manual," Ritsuko said.

Shinji looked over and cocked his head to the side.

"This is the multi-purpose humanoid combat system developed by humanity, the Evangelion," the doctor declared with just a hint of pride in her voice.

"Humanoid," Shinji said thoughtfully as he peered over the edge of the catwalk. "Appearing like a human. So this is bipedal with arms?"

Ritsuko narrowed her eyes. The profile on the boy said he was introverted and submissive to authority. This, this was not what they had been led to expect at all.

"That is correct," Ritsuko said.

"So, my mom helped build this?"

"Indeed."

Three heads were raised to look up at the observation deck jutting out of the ceiling. Behind the thick windows stood Yui Ikari, director of NERV and mother of the Third Child, Shinji Rokubungi.

"It has been a long time," Yui said coldly as she gazed down at Shinji.

Shinji's expression twitched ever so slightly and for a brief moment Misato thought she saw unspeakable rage on the boy's visage. It quickly disappeared however.

"Oh, you," he said simply.

The boy's wording was incredibly rude especially seeing as the person he was addressing was his own mother. Yui however did not seem to care in the least and instead looked over at Ritsuko.

"Prepare for deployment."

"Deployment!?" Misato exclaimed. "But Unit 01 is still frozen! You have to be joking, are you seriously going to try to activate it!?"

"We don't have a choice," Ritsuko said.

"But Rei is injured, we have no pilot!"

"One has just been delivered," the doctor said, gazing over at Shinji.

"Are you serious!?" Misato exclaimed.

"Rokubungi Shinji-kun," Ritsuko said, ignoring her friend's outburst, "you will pilot Unit 01."

"But even Rei took months to synchronize with the EVA!" Misato protested.

"He only needs to sit inside it, we won't ask for more."

"But-!"

"At present our highest priority must be the interception of the Angel," Ritsuko said. "We have no choice, we must have him make the attempt even if the chances of him actually synchronizing are low."

Misato sighed reluctantly. "Maybe so, but…"

"An entity is here that you need this, humanoid combat system to intercept," Shinji spoke up suddenly, catching the two women off guard. "You want me to engage an enemy in that thing?"

Both women blinked, caught off guard once more by the boy. There was no panic in his voice, just a cool analysis of the present situation based on what information was available to him. And despite how little they had told him Shinji had pieced together the main points very, very quickly.

"That's right," Ritsuko said, deciding that beating around the bush would be pointless seeing the boy's obvious intelligence.

"This is the same enemy that we saw the military fight on our way here?" Shinji asked, glancing over at Misato.

The woman nodded. "Yes."

"The one that survived a, what did you call it? An N2 mine?"

A grimace. "Yes."

Shinji looked up at his mother, his own eyes narrowing. "You wish me to, pilot, this system against an enemy that survived a blast that large. You are, in effect, telling an untrained person to fight a monster that seems to have successfully engaged and withstood every other means of killing it thus far, from conventional weapons to what I can only assume was an explosive with a nuclear-scale yield." Shinji's eyes swept the chamber and Misato saw that the boy now had the attention of everyone present, including the various techs and guards. "The entire scenario makes no sense unless this is a case of catastrophic incompetence," the boy's eye fell momentarily on Ritsuko before moving on, "that you don't care if you actually win and whether I die or not," this time it was Misato's turn and the woman flinched at the coldness in those eyes, "or there is something you are not telling me about this, system," Shinji finished, his gaze settling once more upon his mother.

Misato shivered. The boy was more than a little frightening. She had presumed his initial standoffishness was due to being in an unfamiliar environment and then getting caught up in the mess of the Angel's attack. Now though, now she was beginning to suspect it was something else entirely. Something like a barely controlled hatred of the mother that abandoned him and his father as a young child. A hatred that might very well be protected to all older woman. This was not a promising start.

"Shinji-kun," Misato said. "We're not sending you out there to die, but Ritsuko is right about one thing. We really don't have a choice here, if we don't stop the Angel all of us are dead anyway."

Shinji regarded Misato. "If the situation is that critical, then why was I not brought in earlier to prepare?"

"I-well," Misato tried to come up with some reason but drew a blank. Shinji was right, he should have been brought in months if not years before so that he could be properly trained as a pilot. But for some reason Director Ikari had chosen not to do this, instead leaving her son out in the backcountry until this moment.

"Interesting," Shinji said as his gaze shifted to Ritsuko. "This, system, does need to be actively controlled. So my just sitting in it shouldn't do much good. So why are all of you pressing me to get in it?"

Good god how much more information was Shinji going to wring out of all their offhand remarks, Misato wondered.

"Because you are one of the very few people that can pilot it," Yui stated from above.

Shinji frowned. "A weapon that has such restrictive utilization requirements seems, odd."

Suddenly the room shook. All present looked up.

"It's found us," Yui said flatly before gazing down again. "There is no time to explain. Will or will you not pilot the EVA?"

Misato knelt down at the boy's side. "Shinji-kun, I promise that I'll explain everything to you afterward, but right now we need you to get into the EVA."

The boy frowned. "How much can you tell me, Misato-san, when you did not even know I was brought here to pilot?"

The remark stun and Misato gaped at the boy.

"You seem like a decent person, Misato-san," the boy said before pausing. "Well, minus the bit about trying to convince me to take on a monster without any preparation." Misato winced at that. Shinji paid her reaction no mind as he gazed up at his mother. "Maybe that's why they don't tell you things. Like why exactly I need to be the one that pilots."

Silence hung in the room until another rumble reached them down here. Yui pressed a button on the console next to her.

"Sensei. Wake Rei."

A brief pause before an older male voice responded. "Are you sure?"

"She is still breathing."

Another pause and something apparently happened that only Yui could see.

"Rei."

Down where they were Shinji and the others could barely make out a soft, "Yes."

"The spare has turned out to be useless." A look of irritation crossed Yui's face. "Again."

"Yes," the voice said once more.

Ritsuko turned away from Shinji. "Reconfigure Unit 01 for Rei! Reinitialize!"

"Acknowledged ma'am," another woman responded.

More bodies shuffled about and soon enough Shinji was alone once more, even Misato leaving his side. During the entire time the boy continued to regard his mother curiously.

"What are you playing at, mother," he muttered.

The boy did not have long to wait as the sound of rolling wheels reached him. He looked over to see a gurney being wheeled in, a heavily bandaged girl lying on it. Their eyes met, his blue and her red. Shinji was struck by the similarity between the girl and his own mother, including the coldness of her gaze. This was the girl they expected to pilot in his place? The boy felt a flicker of emotion. It grew with every passing second. Pure rage welled up within Shinji and more than one person hesitated as they felt a chill run down their spines.

"Shinji-kun?" Misato said hesitantly from the other side of the catwalk.

The room shook once more, this time far more violently and Rei was thrown off the gurney. The girl cried in pain but before anyone could react the sound of snapping metal echoed.

"Look out!"

Shinji did not know who cried out the warning but it was far too late. He looked up and saw the large metal braces falling straight for him. The boy did not flinch, did not attempt some futile leap away. Instead he watched as his doom approached. That was perhaps why he did not see it, only hear the tearing of more metal before a black form appeared above him and blocked the steel columns and plates from squashing him flat. Shinji blinked in surprise. He then looked down and saw the distinctive form of a giant hand shielding him.

"The EVA moved!"

"That's impossible, it's offline!"

"There's no power running to it right now!"

Shinji heard and stored away all those remarks for future consideration. Right now his attention was focused squarely on the girl panting on the floor, her body obviously wracked with pain. He walked to her side and lifted her gently. She was remarkably light.

"Misato-san," Shinji said as the woman ran over to them. "See to, Rei."

Misato looked at the boy and saw the coldness in his eyes soften ever so slightly as he spoke the girl's name. The boy had found something he would fight for. She prayed they never found out what would happen if he lost that reason.

* * *

"Soren."

The German man opened his eyes to find Amanda leaning down over him. The two were in bed, his wife with only a sheet wrapped around her body preserving her modesty.

"You were dreaming again," she said.

Soren rose, cracking his neck. "It is happening more and more often."

Amanda pressed her body against his back and draped her arms around his neck. "Try to keep it together for just a little longer, okay? And then you'll get to see her again."

For a moment her husband said nothing and Amanda wondered if she might have overstepped, reminding Soren of his lost love. But then he took her hand and gave it a kiss.

"You as well. Once this is over, the two of you will finally be safe together."

Amanda smiled and rested her head on Soren's shoulder. "You know, you haven't exactly been a bad husband or anything. I hope you at least haven't minded being with me all these years."

"I do not regret our time together," Soren said. "You and I, we found happiness where we could with and for each other. I am, thankful for the chance you have given me. It is more than I deserved after everything I have done."

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Amanda said. "You, me, the Generalmajor. We've all made mistakes. But we all deserve to find a little bit of happiness. And, I just want you to know, even if you're not her, you have made me happy. You can be proud of that at least."

"Indeed, your standards are quite, interesting," Soren said dryly.

He was promptly rewarded with a pillow crashing into his head.

* * *

"So we don't know what happened to Rei?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko shook her head. "The hypothesis is that she was absorbed into Unit 01's core, but we haven't been able to locate her pattern within Unit 01's core. Without that, we have no way to even begin to attempt a salvage operation."

"Damn," Misato sighed as they entered the conference room. "Oh, everyone's here already."

"Punctuality is a virtue," Amanda said with a dry smile.

Misato looked at her wrist and grinned. "It's exactly 10AM according to my watch."

"It'll be 10:01 for the actual start of the meeting if you don't get your ass seated," Amanda retorted.

Misato chuckled and walked to the head of the table. She paused before the chair though.

"Is Soren not going to be here?"

Amanda shook her head. "He considers his responsibilities fulfilled and is going back to his civilian cover."

Misato wrinkled her nose. "Darn, I was hoping to hear him address me as ma'am."

This time it was Amanda's turn to chuckle. "Yeah, about that."

The German woman took out a slip of paper and presented it to her friend. Misato leaned over to examine it before her eyes widened.

"No. Way."

"Yes way," Amanda said. "In light of, two NERV branch commanders needing dismissal within basically a two week span of each other, the committee has decided that they want someone onsite that unambiguously outranks the current commander so that a change in the chain of command can be done smoothly. As such Soren has been granted a formal promotion in grade to brigadier-general, dated one day before your own promotion to colonel and your brevet to brigadier."

"Damn, now I need to call him sir," Misato grumbled.

More chuckles rippled around the table.

"Technically you've always had to," Amanda said with a grin, "you just never knew it."

"Wait, if he's a brigadier now, doesn't that mean he outranks you as well?" Misato said, looking over at her friend.

"Again, technically yes, but I'm Inspectorate, Soren's rank comes from the UNMC and he's IPEA."

"Sounds overly complicated," Misato remarked.

Amanda shrugged. "It is what it is. And you, General Katsuragi, need to get this meeting started. We're at 10:03 now."

"Alright, alright," Misato said as she sat down. "Sheesh, what a slave driver."

"Why thank you."

Misato stuck out a tongue before looking over at the others. All of the senior officers were here, including Aramaki of Section-2 and Madison despite her lack of an official position. In fact the only two people not present were Kaji and Soren, Kaji having had to duck out to handle some other Inspectorate business and Soren apparently deciding keeping NERV running was now Misato's problem and he could go play hooky as a violinist again. The German man's priorities were, interesting if nothing else.

"Well, I want to thank everyone for coming so early in the morning," Misato said with a grin.

That got her a few smiles in response.

"I'm sure you've all at least guessed why the meeting was called, a need has arisen to slightly reorganize our command hierarchy and reevaluate where we stand resource wise."

Solemn nods answered her this time.

"At present I am still officially the head of the operations section, but it is fairly obvious that I cannot both juggle my duty as NERV's commander and be in charge of operations. As such, I have requested Colonel Metz," Misato nodded to the woman, "take over that position for the duration of her stay with us." Metz nodded back. "The Colonel has graciously accepted and from this day forth the operations section will report directly to her instead of me. Is that clear?"

More nods though Hyuga seemed a bit saddened by the news. Anyone else and Misato would have assumed the man was disappointed that he was not getting promoted to fill the vacancy, but Hyuga Misato knew had something of a crush on her. Not entirely professional but she did appreciate the loyalty he had shown over the past few weeks, a loyalty that would not go unrewarded.

"Lieutenant Hyuga," Misato said, causing the man to start. "As Colonel Metz remains a Bundeswehr officer on loan to the UN, she will eventually be leaving us. As such she and I have decided that you shall serve as an understudy for the duration of her stay in preparation for assuming the position of operations head upon her departure. I trust that you will not find the added responsibilities too onerous?"

"No ma'am!" Hyuga said, shooting up and bowing. "I thank you for your trust ma'am!"

Misato smiled and nodded. As Hyuga sat down Aoba gave his friend a congratulatory pat on the back.

"Lieutenant Aoba," Misato said next, causing the man to look over. "Your services with the operations section has been exemplary, but Captain Aramaki has requested that I return you to the intelligence section. While every section is short of manpower, seeing as Section-2 is responsible for the safety of the pilots I have decided that in this one case I am willing to let him poach."

Aoba smiled wirily. "Understood ma'am."

The man had originally been part of Section-2, managing intelligence feeds in the command center. The nature of the work however meant he became more and more enmeshed with operations work to the point where everyone treated him as Misato's subordinate instead of Aramaki's. And loathe as she was to lose such a capable officer she knew that Aramaki's need for trusted hands was as dire if not even more so than operation's. As the overall commander of NERV she needed to balance the requirements of each section, just as she was doing now.

"The transition will not be immediate," Misato said. "For the mean time you will retain your operations related duties while training your replacement, Lieutenant Mogami."

The bespectacled woman further down the table looked up in surprise at the mention of her name. Misato smiled gently in her direction.

"Your performance for the past few months have not gone unnoticed, lieutenant, and I have every confidence that you will continue to live up to my high expectations."

Aoi stood and bowed. "Thank you ma'am, I won't let you down."

Misato nodded and as Aoi seated the two women seated next to Aoi gave their friend their own enthusiastic albeit quiet congratulations.

"Now onto the matter of the EVAs," Misato said, nodding to Ritsuko.

"At present Unit 02 is fully functional and ready for deployment," Ritsuko said. "Unit 04 is approaching readiness, it should be another few days before the last of its wounds are regenerated and we can install the replacement armor. Unit 01 is, physically, undamaged but we will need at least a few days to finish reinstalling all the armor. Whether it can be deployed even after that is something of an open question."

Misato nodded. "Whether it's safe for Shinji-kun to get in it."

"Quite. The MAGI has run some simulations and it is 86% certain that he can synchronize safely with Unit 01 without crossing the threshold again. We're adding in more safeguards to keep that from happening, but under the right conditions Shinji-kun could still override them even if unintentionally."

"Not sure I like the sound of that," Misato remarked.

"Nevertheless we may not have much of a choice," Amanda said. "We only have four EVAs right now and the two previous battles each required the deployment of our entire complement to achieve victory. And let's not kid ourselves, the battle against Zeruel was a damn close thing."

No one really needed that reminder as all nodded.

"How soon can we start testing Shinji-kun with Unit 01?" Misato asked despite not wanting to let her son anywhere near the damn monster.

"We should give him a few more days to rest and recuperate," Ritsuko said.

"Does he still have Ireul's cells in his body?" Amanda asked.

"He does," Ritsuko answered. "Whether that's a good or bad thing, only time will tell." Her tablet beeped. "Oh, it looks like he's awakened."

"Really?" Amanda said. "Can you bring up the video feed from his room?"

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just want to make sure he's not suffering any sort of anxiety attacks after everything he's been through," Amanda said.

Ritsuko regarded Misato who nodded. With a sigh the doctor pressed a few buttons on her tablet and typed a few more commands into the keyboard before her. Moments later the main display in the conference room lit up to show one of NERV's innumerable hospital wards. Inside sitting up on the bed was the Third Child when a distinctive tussle of red seemed to be lying on the boy's side.

"Is-is that Asuka?" Misato said in surprise.

"Looks like it," Amanda said. "Seems like she spent the night in his room."

"Aww, that's kinda cute," Madison cooed with a grin.

The occupants of the room watched as Asuka rose and the two exchanged words. The audio pickup was turned off so they could not hear what the two were saying though no one suggested Ritsuko disconnect the feed. Then gasps sounded around the room.

"Hah!" Madison cheered. "Looks like the princess finally snagged her prince charming!"

"They're-they're," Misato tried to verbalize what her brain was seeing.

"Kissing," Amanda did it for her.

Squeals sounded from more than one of the younger women present.

Amanda chuckled. "Well, it's about damn time."

The display blinked out as Ritsuko cut off the feed. She coughed.

"I think that's enough of peeking on the two," she said.

"Right, I'll have a talk with the two later," Misato said. "We've still got work to do."

The smile plastered over her face made clear however just where her attention was likely to be for the rest of the meeting.

"We still need to discuss the Mark 06," Ritsuko said, bringing her friend's attention back to reality.

"Oh, right," Misato said flatly before looking at Amanda. "So, what can you tell us about the Mark 06?"

"It's the product of a highly classified initiative that not even the Inspectorate was privy to," Amanda said. "The IPEA was aware of it at least, Soren told me that it was designed to serve as a last resort weapon against the Angels in case one managed to breach Terminal Dogma."

"But can it be deployed against the other Angels when they attack?" Misato asked.

"Yes and no," Amanda said. "Like the other EVAs it can engage Angels but it's not a general purpose combat system. It was specifically designed to trap and seal an Angel within itself, after which it self-destructs to take the Angel out with it."

"That seems, a little excessive," Misato said with a frown.

"Again, yes and no," Amanda repeated. "Like I said, according to Soren it's a last resort EVA. In many ways it is only intended to be deployed if an Angel succeeds in initiating Third Impact. In that situation the Mark 06 is supposed to utilize the Spear of Cassius to suppress the energy reaction and then seal the Angel using itself. That being the case, its effectiveness in actual combat is somewhat limited."

"So in actuality we only have three EVAs that can be deployed to engage an Angel," Misato said.

"Pretty much," Amanda said.

"Does make things a tad more complicated," Misato said, leaning back in her chair, "but we'll have to make do. Alright, that's the EVAs. What about the rest of the city's defensive systems?"

"The Fourteenth Angel managed to do considerable damage to our fixed defenses," Hyuga said. "We're down to 52% capacity at this point and that's unlikely to improve for several months. The positron cannon however is still operational."

"Good, we might not have been able to use it against Zeruel but I'd hate to lose it if we end up with another space borne Angel," Misato said. "And that giant hole we cut through the ground?"

"We have the surface entry point sealed off," Maya said, "but repairing all of the layers of armor will also likely take months, same as for the one Zeruel created."

"Is there a way to maybe dump rubble or something into the tunnel carved out by the positron cannon to try to block it up more thoroughly?" Amanda asked. "It's at a pretty shallow angle."

"Possibly," Maya said, "we can look into it."

"Please do," Misato said. "Right now those two holes represent major breaches in the Geofront's security. The next Angel might not even need to fight its way through to get down here again."

Maya nodded, jotting down some notes for herself.

"Is there anything else that requires attention today?" Misato asked.

Shakes of heads answered her.

"Good. Before we go however there is one last thing that needs to be done." Misato stood and nodded to Amanda.

"Attention to orders," the woman said clearly and crisply.

All present stood and snapped to attention.

"First Lieutenant Hyuga, Second Lieutenant Mogami, please step forward."

The two did so, a certain nervousness apparent from behind their glasses. Misato however smiled reassuringly at them as she extended a hand towards Amanda. The German woman presented a familiar looking red folder. By the time the meeting was dismissed, it was Captain Makoto Hyuga and First Lieutenant Aoi Mogami that left to resume their duties.

* * *

"Are we actually still on track?" Amanda asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea," Klinge replied from Germany. "Arael is scheduled to appear within the next week or so but there is precedent for an Angel appearing at a different time than the scenario originally called for."

"We'll deal with the Angels one way or another," Amanda said impatiently. "I'm asking about our other assets."

Klinge rubbed her chin, though as a mental protection the motion was pretty meaningless. "Our forces are standing by in Germany and we should be able to seize the Third Branch with little difficulty, assuming Dr. Langley can initiate the system purge. If we have to cut our way in we may not be able to shut off the MAGI hack quickly enough to do you any good in Tokyo."

"Good thing we're not relying on just that to stop the hack," Amanda said before shifting her attention to another man present. "Mr. President, what of the American assets?"

Kavan Franklin, 45th President of the United States and perhaps the most powerful man politically within the collective, regarded Amanda thoughtfully.

"The 101st Airborne have had their readiness stepped up. The assets needed to deploy them to Tokyo-3 have also been assembled so I do not foresee any difficulty in getting them overseas."

"SecDef is still in the dark?" Klinge asked.

Franklin nodded. "He has been focusing his attention on the US' remaining naval assets, specifically the _Alabama_."

The others present grimaced. The sixth Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, _Alabama_ was one SEELE asset they had been unable to indirectly neutralize.

"Officially it's currently being shadowed by _Virginia_¸ but I also have _Seawolf_ stalking both of them."

"Will one attack sub be enough to deal with both of them?" Amanda asked.

"It was all I could arrange," Franklin said. ""The orders issued to _Seawolf's_ captain tell him to prioritize neutralization of _Alabama_ over _Virginia_."

"If they can get off more than one SLBM things could get nasty," Klinge said. "We might have to divert the Ark to take it out."

"If we do, we do," Amanda said. "The important thing is that we have the boots on the ground needed to neutralize the JSSDF before the EVA series hits."

"Agreed," Franklin said. "A pity that III MEF is no longer in Okinawa."

The Third Marine Expeditionary Force was another casualty of Second Impact, with its survivors having been absorbed into the standing forces America maintained in its homeland.

"Even without outside support you should still have enough firepower locally to stand off anything the JSSDF can throw at you," Klinge said. "Especially with the combat mechs that have been delivered over the past month. Is their reassembly on schedule?"

"They are," Madison answered that one with a smirk. "Boy won't the JSSDF be surprised when they run into them."

"But if they do manage to nuke Tokyo-3 we'll be completely exposed," Amanda said. "And even if we do win, we still need to take out the EVA series itself. Any luck digging up info about it?"

Klinge shook her head. "SEELE is being, extremely paranoid about them. We've only managed to pull the designs for three of them and they look much as we were expecting, but there is no telling if they might slip in an Adam into the mix without us finding out until it's actually deployed."

"If they do employ an Adam I will deal with it," Soren stated.

"Easier said than done depending on which Adam it is," Klinge pointed out.

"Perhaps," Soren conceded, "but this is one reason why I was brought in."

That the others did not dispute.

"At present the fixed points are still resonating," Amanda said. "That would indicate that there is minimal risk of a divergence from our chosen scenario." The woman regarded Soren. "Rei's survival still appears to be on track." She then looked over at Klinge. "As is Ryoji's."

Klinge nodded. "Once Kaji extracts Ikari, SEELE will be furious and will almost certainly issue a kill order. Arrangements have already been made for a place where he can disappear to and sit out the endgame. Of course getting him there will be your responsibilities."

"We know," Amanda said. "Don't worry, we'll get him out."

Klinge nodded again, though Amanda wondered at the woman's composure. This was her price after all for her participation in this grand score.

"Has the committee given any indication on how they want to handle Nagisa?" Soren asked.

"I think they're mildly optimistic right now about achieving Instrumentality without his assistance," Klinge said. "If they go the route we want them to, they are likely to order you to execute him pretty quickly after Armisael is taken down. If they get cold feet or have doubts, they are almost certainly going to give you an explicit order to wait as well."

"About what we expected then," Amanda said.

"Quite."

"Then the only thing we can do is watch and wait," the woman said. "But I have little doubt that we _will_ usher in a new dawn."

* * *

Shinji was still mentally working out everything that had happened. He distinctly remembered fighting Zeruel in Unit 01, willing the EVA to rise even when it ran out of power. The sight of Rei being consumed had driven him to a blinding rage as he sought to save his sister. Futilely, it seemed, for despite remembering holding Rei in his arms before blacking out she was nowhere to be found. The look on Asuka's face when he first broached the subject was all he needed to understand that he was the only one saved. Had Asuka not been there for him he might well have slipped into a deep dismay. There was a lot of hugging while he was awake. It also helped immensely that both Misato and Amanda insisted that they were not giving up hope and would do their utmost to try and find out what happened to Rei. And if possible, bring her back.

After the first day or so however Asuka was literally kicked out of the ward by Amanda who demanded the girl start attending school again. The girl protested just enough to satisfy her honor before acceding and so Shinji found himself with a great deal of time on his hands. He did not spend it entirely alone, Misato dropping in from time to time and even eating lunch with him. Which considering the woman's choice of conversation topic was becoming a distinctly mixed blessing.

"-and I don't mind some innocent cuddling, but you're only 14 and Asuka's just turned 14, so no naughty business."

"Misato-san," Shinji groaned. "We're not doing anything."

"I know, if you were there'd be a long line of men prepared to rip your hide out starting with Asuka's father and ending with Soren," Misato said with a grin. "Still, it needs to be said."

"You've said it," Shinji said glumly. "Can we drop it now?"

Misato chuckled. "Sure Shinji-kun."

Something seemed to occur to the boy as he cut himself another slice of the roast. "The operation to bring me back, it was on the same day as Asuka's birthday, wasn't it?"

"And you gave her the best present she could have asked for by coming back," Misato said, "so don't worry about it."

"But I still feel kind of bad," Shinji said. "Asuka seems like the kind of person who would have loved to celebrate her birthday with all her friends."

"True enough, but there's always next year," Misato said with a smile. "You just have to make sure to be there and make it an even bigger one to make up for this year."

Shinji frowned. That did not sit well with him at all.

"Misato-san, how much do I have in my bank account at this point?"

"Hmm? Umm, well, you aren't really a big spender in general and the food budget is coming out of a living stipend, I'd say you have about, four million yen, at least?" The woman waved her fork at Shinji. "And I am not letting you spend all of that on Asuka even if she is your girlfriend."

"Not all of it," Shinji said with a wiry smile. "I just want to get her something meaningful. Something practical."

"Oh? It sounds like you have an idea," Misato said.

"Well, I was kind of thinking about it before, all this happened," Shinji said as evenly as he could manage. "Asuka is Reimer-san's only student, right? And she's a very good violinist. I couldn't afford to give her a better violin, but what about a better bow?"

Misato pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Now that is a thought. You'd almost certainly have to get it from Europe though, Japan isn't exactly a place to get world class classical instruments."

"Would Reimer-san have any recommendations?" Shinji asked.

"Possibly. I'll hit him up on it." Misato wiped her mouth. "Anyway, gotta run Shinji-kun, who knew keeping NERV running would take so much time and energy."

Shinji smiled at his adoptive mother. "Thank you for still spending some of it with me, Misato-san. I really appreciate it."

Misato gave the boy a quick squeeze and ruffled his hair before making her exit. Shinji continued his own meal at a more leisurely pace. Time was something he had plenty of after all. Once he was finished he piled the tray and dishes in a more orderly arrangement to make it easier for the attendants to collect. With that dealt with Shinji left the room and walked over to the physical therapy center. His own condition did not require any such treatment but an important friend of his did have such injuries, injuries she suffered due to his own personal failure. Shinji knew he could not go back and change the past but he would at least try to help Hikari adjust to her new limitations however he could.

The girl was already in there with an English doctor NERV had brought over. From their mutual introduction Shinji knew that she was an expert in robotics and was working on the development of more functional prosthetics. As Shinji entered said doctor nodded in greeting.

"Good afternoon, Shinji-san," Erica said in passable Japanese.

"Good afternoon, Simmons-sensei," Shinji responded.

Hikari smiled and simply waved at him and Shinji smiled as he regarded her. His attention however quickly returned to the English woman. She was apparently another associate of Soren and Amanda, or rather Brigadier-General Soren Reimer of the United Nations International Project Evangelion Agency. That little revelation was still taking some getting used to. Shinji did not know just what to make of the fact that the German man's true job was to watch over the EVA pilots, though from what Asuka and Misato had told him the reason he took the position was to better care for his charges, not he cared for them because it was his job. That was quite reassuring though Shinji still felt an unease regarding all the secrecy.

"Now, if you would please, Hikari-san," the doctor instructed.

Hikari raised her left arm obediently and a visualization on the display showed two arms stretched open. Shinji watched in fascination as Hikari went through a series of motions with the monitor showing what the intended effect was. Some saw both virtual arms move while others showed only one of the two move. Shinji had received an explanation the first time he walked in on this exercise and played it in his head.

"The prosthetic being built for Hikari-san will be controlled via a neural interface, which requires that her brain's signals to her arm be mapped out," Erica had said. "Each such prosthetic needs to be individually tuned as no person's nervous system is the same. That is why we have Hikari-san go through a series of motions, including trying to move the arm that is no longer present. First we start with coarse-grained movement with just the arm itself, then we move onto fine-grained motion involving the hand and fingers. Once we have enough raw data, we plug it into a simulation and have Hikari-san try to control a virtual arm and do things with it."

The technology was, in a word, amazing, in Shinji's opinion. He felt a strong desire to learn as much about it as possible, another reason why he sat in on these sessions and helped where he could. Dr. Simmons was also a nice sort and indulged in his questions and even recommended references that he could look up to learn more about her field. Most Shinji felt certain were well beyond his academic level but he noted them down as something to work toward.

"Alright, calibration is complete," Erica said. "Let's fire up the simulation."

The simulation in question was a bit brute force but Shinji very quickly saw the elegant simplicity in it. Hikari was wheeled over to what looked like a large TV screen and positioned so that her right side could lean against it. Straps helped secure the girl and Hikari dutifully placed the stump of her right arm through the hole in the middle of the screen. Erica plugged in the neural interface that rested atop the girl's neck into the system booted it up. After about a minute the screen Hikari was leaning against lit up, displaying a simple table with an arm resting on it. The entire thing was effectively an optical illusion, displaying a phantom arm that mimicked the motion of what the girl intended to do. It had taken several weeks before the neural filters were fine-tuned enough to properly interpret the girl's actions and even now Hikari needed to visibly focus to move the arm about. But she was getting better and better as her times on the various exercises showed.

The simple ones had her place shaped blocks into their appropriate slots. Another involved her typing on a keyboard with both virtual and real hands, scoring her on how quickly and accurately she repeated the words displayed before her. Perhaps the most complex was one where she needed to draw kanji. The first few attempts were barely recognizable as characters but now Hikari could accurately write entire paragraphs, even if the effort strained her. The girl's progress was incredible, an opinion Shinji gave voice to.

"Indeed it is," Erica had agreed with him. "The human brain is extremely adaptable but it is ultimately the person herself that must overcome any physical limits. If things progress at this rate we will be ready to install the prosthetic within the next month."

Hikari had smiled brightly at that last bit, something Shinji was glad to see. Her life was not going to be destroyed because of her mistake, she could still live a full and joyous one. Hikari might still not be able to walk but that too Shinji felt certain would be remedied in time, even if he needed to enter into the same field as Dr. Simmons to make it happen. He owed her that much at the very least.

* * *

Amanda was in the process of leaving when her office door slid open to reveal Maria.

"Umm, Colonel Sommer?" the girl said.

"Something wrong Maria?" Amanda said as she shut down her terminal.

"Do you, have a moment?"

Amanda frowned. Something was obviously bugging the girl and though she needed to meet Soren soon brushing her off was likely not a good idea.

"Of course, please have a seat."

Maria did so, her nervous fidgeting and glancing about the office rather obvious despite the girl's attempts to hide it. Then again she was still young and had yet to learn the finer points of hiding her emotions.

"That new pilot, Kaworu Nagisa," Maria said. "He's, been talking to me a lot."

"Is he bothering you?"

"No, well, kind of," Maria said sheepishly. "He, keeps asking me about what I think about Instrumentality and humanity in general. And, he keeps referencing Nietzsche."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Nietzsche? I did not know he was familiar with that man's work."

"He said he borrowed your copy of the philosopher's works," Maria said more softly.

"He what?" Amanda looked over at her bookshelf and sure enough, there was a gap between the books that she had not noticed. "That cheeky little bugger."

"Umm, ma'am, why do you have a copy of Nietzsche's works?" Maria asked. "Doesn't he, stand against everything SEELE wants to achieve?"

"Is that what's bothering you?" Amanda said with a chuckle. "I'm afraid Kaworu has misunderstood why I have a copy of _Kritische Gesamtausgabe Werke und Briefe._ It serves as a codebook for secure communication between myself and other inner circle operatives."

Maria's eyes widened and the girl's jaw dropped, eliciting another chuckle from the German woman. That however caused the girl's face to redden.

"I'm so sorry Colonel," Maria said hastily. "I should have never doubted you like that."

Technically the girl should have, but Amanda was hardly going to tell her that.

"There is nothing wrong with being exposed to different ideas," Amanda said. "Though I believe in Instrumentality, that does not mean I cannot appreciate Nietzsche's philosophy. In point of fact had humanity shown any inclination of actually adopting his tenants, then Instrumentality might not have even been necessary. But humanity as a whole has proven itself to be unwilling to change and so we are forced to drastic measures to ensure its survival for the long term."

Perhaps Amanda should have felt some guilt about the lies and half-truths she had just fed the girl. Perhaps she should be worried about the long term ramifications of deceiving Maria. Right now however the woman had other things on her mind and so she took the shortest, most expedient path to soothing the girl's anxieties.

"I see," Maria said thoughtfully. "I, had never thought of it that way."

"Was there anything else you needed?" Amanda asked. "Otherwise I have an errand I need to run with Soren."

Maria shook her head as she stood. "No ma'am, and thank you. Oh, and please give my regards to General Reimer."

That last was said with a bright smile before Maria dashed off. Amanda chuckled to herself as she shook her head. Good lord Maria really was smitten with Soren. What was it about her husband that seemed to attract the attention of 14 year old girls? Setting those thoughts aside Amanda locked her office and took one of the secure elevators down into terminal dogma. Soren and Madison were already waiting for her when she arrived in the dimly lit room, a large motorized cart beside them.

"Let's get this over with," Amanda said to the two.

Soren nodded and manipulated the controls, turning on the lights to reveal a glass wall holding back a tank filled with LCL. Inside floated numerous female figures, all with the face of Rei Ayanami. The German man pressed a few more buttons and one of the bodies began drifting away from the others. A large clear tube descended, enveloping the body and capping off the bottom before retreating into the ceiling. A few minutes later the tube was lowered into the room they were in, its exterior dripping LCL. Carefully Amanda and Madison maneuvered the tube onto the cart before covering it with a sheet, hiding the body floating within.

"The body is stable," Amanda said. "Once we plug her into the life support system we should be able to maintain her form indefinitely, at least until we pull Rei's soul out of Unit 01."

Soren nodded. "Then there is no further need for the spares."

The German coolly and dispassionately entered the command and before long the LCL started to bubble. The figures on the other side began twisting about and despite knowing what they were Amanda felt her stomach twist in horror as she watched their bodies come apart. Madison had a grimace on her face while Soren stared impassively at the scene. Amanda was not fooled however as she sensed the tension within her husband. Soren had insisted he be the one to do this and Amanda had acquiesced. As necessary as her husband seemed to believe his direct involvement needed to be it was obvious actually performing the act was putting him under considerable strain. Amanda walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, the slight tremor in Soren's body ceasing as she made contact.

"These aren't her," she said gently.

Soren said nothing. What Amanda said was true, these were not Rei Ayanami. And this score's Ayanami was not his Ayanami to begin with. That did not make watching their deaths any easier.

* * *

The day that Shinji was checked out of the medical wing was also the day that Hikari was discharged. Shinji had tried to apologize to the girl but Hikari beat him with a low bow from her wheelchair and a thank you. Shinji being Shinji of course this only saw him become flustered and try to insist the girl had no reason to thank him. But then Hikari's father, her sisters, and even Toji bowed and insisted, yes, they did need to thank him. The boy was left at a loss for how to respond but fortunately Asuka came to his rescue, forcing his head down in a bow of his own to reciprocate the gesture.

Once the Horakis plus Toji had departed the boy encountered his second trial of the day, meeting Asuka's father Wilhelm Langley. The man's Japanese was quite fluid, certainly better than the halting German Shinji greeted him with. Still Wilhelm seemed impressed that Shinji was learning his language and even more surprised to hear that it was Asuka teaching him. Asuka's response to this was to look away with a slight blush, eliciting amused chuckles from some of the other adults present. Shinji would have liked to talk with the man more but unfortunately Wilhelm was scheduled to return to Germany shortly. The man however did have some parting words for him.

"Kümmern sich um meine temperamentvoll Tochter, Herr Ikari."

The boy blinked, not quite understanding the words. Some of them were familiar and he was pretty sure 'daughter' was in there so the man was probably talking about Asuka. A quick glance to his side revealed a reddening flush on the girl's face that confirmed his assumption.

"Papa!" Asuka protested.

More laughter from the adults around them. Wilhelm gave Asuka's hair a rustle before pulling the girl into a long hug. He then shook Shinji's hand and was escorted away by a Section-2 agent. Asuka waved after her father, who returned it until he was around the corner. She still seemed somewhat morose during the drive from NERV, likely why she did not immediately notice they were not headed back to the apartment. By the time Asuka realized what was going on they were pulling into the driveway of the Reimer-Sommer residence.

"What's going on?" Asuka asked suspiciously.

"You'll see," Amanda said with a knowing smirk.

The girl glared at her mentor but nevertheless followed her into the house. Once inside however she came to an abrupt halt at the sight within the living room.

"What's going on?" Asuka repeated.

Laid out before her were perhaps a dozen different violin bows, all carefully mounted on wooden stands, with a European man she did not recognize more or less hovering over the implements. The Guarneri Soren had, returned, to her was also present, laying in the open case.

Amanda smiled at Shinji and nodded for the boy to take the lead. This was his gift after all.

"Umm, your birthday was on the 4th," Shinji said, "the same day as when I was pulled out of Unit 01. That didn't seem fair, how you didn't get to celebrate, and I was originally going to get you something for it anyway."

Asuka's gaze was now fixed on the boy.

"And, well, I thought I should get you something that you could actually use," Shinji went on, speaking faster and faster as his nervousness mounted. "Reimer-san's been teaching you how to play the violin and I thought I could get you something to help you with that. I don't have the money for a really nice violin, but I thought a bow might be a good start."

The intensity of the redhead's gaze did not abate.

"Reimer-san helped set this up since I couldn't get any nice boys in Japan," Shinji said, his words almost running into each other now. "All of the ones here were brought over from Europe, so you can try them out and see if there's any you like-"

The boy's mouth was sealed shut as Asuka suddenly threw herself at him and planted a kiss. Asuka did not weigh much but the force of her movement still sent Shinji toppling over. The two fortunately did not land on anything fragile, or expensive, and Shinji found himself pulled to the ground as Asuka gave him a most enthusiastic kiss. He was more than happy to return it. Amanda gaped at the two before exchanging looks with the craftsman that had brought over the bows. The man chuckled, which about summed up the situation as a whole. Deciding that there was no harm in letting Asuka express her heartfelt gratitude, Amanda waited for her protégé to come up for air. It took a while.

Once Asuka made her selection, only the second most expensive of the bows brought over but at 6000 Deutschmark, roughly 750,000 yen, it was effectively three quarters of Shinji's monthly stipend. The boy did not complain however seeing as how ecstatic Asuka was and it was with a noticeable skip that the two returned to the car, hand in hand. From there Amanda drove them back to the Katsuragi residence where Soren had been busy cooking up a veritable feast for a combined belated birthday party for his student and for Shinji's latest discharge from NERV's medical ward.

As Shinji looked at the dishes he was surprised to see several vegetarian offerings on hand. In fact as he watched Mari set out an extra place and when Shinji regarded her quizzically she responded with a completely serious face.

"We need to make sure we're ready for when she gets back."

Shinji smiled and bowed in thanks to the girl. Mari chuckled and ruffled his hair. The evening passed and Shinji found himself genuinely enjoying himself. Not everyone he wanted to share this moment with was here but those that were made it all the more meaningful.

* * *

As the pilots prepared to turn in for the night Shinji noticed that Asuka displayed no intention of going back to the apartment she used to share with Rei. Furthermore there were quite a few hygiene products that he did not recognize in the bathroom, products that he knew were not Misato's. His suspicion of who they belonged to was confirmed when Asuka took over the bathroom after he was done but the boy was still not prepared when the girl entered his room after she finished bathing.

"Asuka?" Shinji said nervously.

The girl sat down on the edge of his bed. "After Mama died, I kept having nightmares."

Shinji's eyes widened but he said nothing, letting the girl speak her piece.

"They went on for about a year and I had a lot of trouble sleeping because of them. It wasn't really until Amanda and the Maestro came into my life that I started settling down. But they still come back from time to time."

Shinji rose and wrapped his arms around Asuka, a motion the girl did not resist.

"They had actually stopped after I came to Tokyo-3," the girl continued, "but I didn't realize why until about a month after my arrival." The girl chuckled. "Do you remember when we had to sleep in the same room for our synchronization training?"

"Umm, yeah," Shinji said.

"Well, I only had a nightmare the first night. After that I slept, better, than I had for weeks. The nightmares came back after I moved in with Rei until one day I ended up sleepwalking into her room and getting into her bed."

"You, got into Ayanami's bed?" Shinji asked.

Asuka nodded, leaning back against the boy. "I freaked out really bad the morning after, but Rei wasn't bothered at all. It took me a few days to realize that I didn't have nightmares that night either, but after that I asked if she was willing to let me try sleeping in her room. She, agreed. We've been, were, sharing a room since then."

Shinji felt his own chest tighten at the mention of his sister, a sister who no one could figure out where she had gone. He remembered holding her inside Unit 01's entry plug before blacking out but according to Misato when they pulled him out he was alone. Rei might still be trapped inside Unit 01, or she might be gone entirely. Shinji prayed that it was the former as at least that way there was still hope she could be saved.

"Anyway, since Rei went, missing," Asuka said, unwilling to acknowledge the other possibility, "I haven't been sleeping very well either. So if you want me to go back to the apartment and have nightmares again, sure, I could leave you all alone here tonight."

Shinji smiled slightly. "Or you could keep me company and we can give Misato-san a big surprise tomorrow morning."

Asuka looked up with a smirk. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Shinji stroked the girl's hair. "Thank you, Asuka."

"Hmm?"

"For being friends with Ayanami. It means a lot to me."

"Well she is your sister," the girl said. "If you consider her family then so do I."

Asuka pointedly made no mention of whom Shinji might not consider family and the boy said nothing either.

"Hey Asuka?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad, to have met you. Thank you."

The words reverberated into the girl's heart. She rose slightly and planted a kiss on the boy's cheek, causing his face to redden.

"Me too Baka-Shinji, me too."

End of Chapter 38

I mentioned that I was feeling somewhat unsatisfied with the previous iteration of the chapter. Well, I felt unsatisfied enough to go and rework the latter half of it. There werejust too many things that I wanted incorporated to help set up future chapters that I literally needed to add them in before Arael shows up. I basically added in more scenes, tweaked others, and set up the ending for this chapter in a more satisfying manner. Once Armisael enters the picture we start entering the endgame and all hell is going to break loose.

I, have no idea where the notion of Asuka Suzuhara came from. Amanda's name is based on her prime identity without any modifications relating to relationship. Note that the lack of an L in her name is completely intentional and reflects what her prime identity's name is. Not all of the guesses are, outright wrong, per se, but I think it's a matter of people not realizing just where I am sourcing her character from. Granted the reference is incredibly obscure but there was a pretty major hint a couple chapters back in another of Soren's, memories.

Also, since when was $6000 a middle class paygrade? In the military that's the pay a brigadier-general would get. And the pilot stipend actually comes out to about $8000 a month, which is major-general pay.

Anyway, below are author notes from previous iteration.

The opening of the chapter is based on a fic concept that I toyed with but ultimately discarded, one where Shinji was a lot more methodical and logical in his outlook of life. That obviously wasn't the only twist, in this one Yui Ikari is still alive though equally obviously something happened in the past to cause her to basically toss aside her family. I could not think of a way to actually advance the plot in ways significantly different from the canon to make the story interesting, which was why I ultimately decided not to bother with it. It was interesting enough however that I decided to use that 'score' as the basis for Soren. At least one person guessed a long time ago that there was some complication regarding Soren's relationship with his mother, hence his usage of a surname that started with R instead of I. Well, said person was right, though I doubt he or she had an inkling it was this complicated.

Anyway, feedback is welcome. And rest assured, there will be more actual expressions of, affection, forthcoming. Especially considering what's about to happen.


	40. Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Schmerz

"It's been a while," Shinji said as he looked at the school building.

Asuka snorted. "Yeah, you've built up so much makeup homework that you might need to repeat the term."

Shinji winced. "Don't remind me, please."

The two were standing at the gates, book bags in one hand and each other's in the other. Quite a few of their fellow students snuck peeks or glances at the two though an equal number were completely open with their reactions to the sight if the smiles and envious looks were any indication.

"People are looking," Shinji said dryly.

"Well of course, you're holding hands with the prettiest girl in school," Asuka said proudly.

Mari chuckled next to them. "I think Maria might disagree with that."

"Hah, that girl's got nothing on me, right Shinji?"

The boy smiled wirily. "I might be a tad biased here, Asuka."

And he did not have a death wish either, the boy thought.

"Well whatever," the redhead said, before her attention was drawn to another couple. She waved at them, or more specifically at in her opinion the better half of the pair. "Hikari!"

Through the gates came Hikari and Toji, the boy pushing her wheelchair while Hikari held onto their bags on her lap. The freckled girl smiled back.

"Good morning Asuka-san."

Hikari's eyes fell to the intertwined fingers and her smile grew wider.

"Good morning class rep," Shinji greeted. "It's, good to see you here."

"Good morning Shinji-kun," Hikari responded. "I could say the same for you."

Shinji smiled sheepishly. "Thank you."

Asuka cocked her head aside as she regarded her friend. "Hikari, is that a prosthetic?"

"Ah, this?" Hikari responded, looking down at the white arm. "It's, a placeholder, it's supposed to weigh the same as what my prosthetic will weigh, to help me retain how balanced my body should feel with both arms."

The redhead smiled. "I'm glad NERV is getting you set up with one."

Hikari nodded, allowing a smile of her own. While the prosthetic could never make up for her lost arm, it would at least allow her to regain some freedom of motion.

"Yo, we better be gettin' along," Toji said, getting the wheelchair rolling again.

"Quite," Mari said. "Well I'll just go on ahead, you four enjoy yourselves now!"

"Mari!" Asuka shouted as the girl beat a hasty retreat, cackling as she went.

"She be missing a few screws up there," Toji said.

"Toji, that's not very polite," Hikari chided her boyfriend.

"What? Even red has to agree with me there."

Hikari raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"As much as I hate to agree on anything with the jock, Mari is quirky," Asuka said before grinning. "Still, she is a friend so if you insult her again I will be sure to have her introduce you to her beast mode."

"Err, can she really do that outside an EVA?" Shinji asked.

Asuka chuckled. "Want to find out?"

"Uh, no."

"Dude, you're kinda scaring me here," Toji said to his friend. "What's nasty enough to freak _you_ out?"

"Mari-san, kind of led the charge in beating back the last Angel," Shinji said, "with her beast mode."

Toji blinked. "Ah. Point made, mouth shutting."

Asuka and Hikari chuckled at the boy's antics as they entered the classroom. The flash of a camera caused all four to snap their heads about towards the source. There Kensuke stood with his camera, a few more clicks sounding with the accompanying bursts of light.

"Now that's a shot," the boy said proudly. "The loving couples returning to us after so long."

All four blushed before Asuka glared at the boy.

"Stooge, you better not spread that picture around."

"No worries," Kensuke said with a smile. "I'll be sure to give all of you copies of this commemorative photo though."

"Oh. Well. Good."

Shinji chuckled. "It's good to see you again Kensuke."

"Same here Shinji. And class rep. Welcome back, both of you."

Shinji looked past his friend to see that all of his classmates were standing and smiling. He returned with a shy grin of his own.

"Uh, we're back," he said.

And then he was swamped by students congratulating him and Hikari on their recovery. The girls gravitated towards their old leader, careful to be sensitive about the girl's loss even as quite a few hugs were exchanged. The guys on the other hand clapped Shinji on the back and shoulders and wondered at his taming of a certain fiery redhead. Though Shinji could not claim to know that many of the other students very well, it still felt nice to have the others be concerned about him and his friends.

"Ikari Shinji-kun."

Shinji looked over at the speaker, a task made easier as the boys surrounding him stepped aside for the newcomer. The person who called his name was a lanky albino boy with grayish hair. It was his eyes that struck Shinji however, a bright red that was eerily familiar.

"You must be Nagisa Kaworu-san," Shinji said.

"Indeed." Kaworu smiled and extended a hand. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ikari Shinji-kun."

"Same here," Shinji said, accepting the hand and forcing himself to return the smile. There was something, unnatural about the boy.

"I look forward to working with you as a fellow pilot," Kaworu said before backing away.

Shinji regarded the other boy quizzically, not sure just what to make of him. Kaworu seemed friendly enough but there was a distinctly eerie air about him.

"Weird one, huh?" Mari said, suddenly appearing beside Shinji and causing the boy to start.

Asuka snorted. "You're one to talk."

The British girl flashed a nonchalant smile. "Well, he's got it in the looks department at least. There's already a pretty good fanclub of girls for him."

"Oh please," Asuka rolled her eyes.

The smile became a smirk. "You're at least partially to blame, seeing as you effectively marked Shinji as your territory not long after you arrived."

"What was that!?" Asuka demanded.

"Oh, are you going to deny that?" Mari said, her grin growing wider and wider.

Asuka opened her mouth for some more yelling but nothing came out. The girl remained like that for several seconds before closing her mouth.

"No, I will not deny it," Asuka stated. "If I didn't lay claim to poor Shinji, who knows what dastardly things you would have done to him once you arrived."

Mari chuckled and tapped her chest to indicate the score. Shinji regarded the scene with more than a little amusement. The second bell ran and the students hurried to their respective seats.

* * *

Kaji checked the time again. The security around Gendo was in some ways extremely tight but in others rather laughable. The electronic measures that kept the former NERV commander locked up were impressive seeing as they were backed up by the computational prowess of the MAGI. The human element was less so, Ikari undergoing what was effectively solitary confinement with even his food provided by an automated system within his cell. This was almost certainly intentional on the part of Amanda and Soren when they set up his confinement, though whether it was to avoid a sleeper getting close enough to release the ex-commander or to set it up so that Kaji's own jailbreak attempt would be that much easier the man was not sure. Then again Kaji knew that his friends really, really loathed the elder Ikari so they may well have put him in solitary out of pure spite. Not that he blamed them.

His watch now read 1200 hours and the door into the confinement area clicked open as the two soldiers that did the usually sweep entered. The soldiers were always drawn from the regiment instead of NERV's own tactical ops unit, which was less of a snub than it might have been in any other case. After having fought alongside the pilots directly in battle, the only ones that were probably more protective of the pilots were Colonel Katsuragi, Lieutenant-Colonel Sommer, and Brigadier-General Reimer. If anyone could be counted on to put Ikari down permanently should he attempt to escape, it was the men and women of the 597th.

Kaji watched the two pass by, exchanging small talk about how much they hated the man they kept watch over. About five minutes later, after having peeked into the room and made sure Ikari was still inside, they headed back towards the entrance. Only after the doors closed did Kaji step out of the shadows. He had less than half an hour to get Gendo out and as far from the Geofront as possible. Ikari better be cooperative or Kaji would probably shoot the man himself and be done with it all.

The room that Gendo was kept in had a completely transparent wall to make checking in on the man easy. It also resulted in a complete lack of privacy for the ex-commander when said checking in happened, which did not result in any shed tears on behalf of the man. At the same time there were moments where such complete transparency made things less than comfortable for those doing the checking in, such as now with Kaji being subjected to the sight of Gendo on the toilet with his pants down. The man's face twisted in disgust. The elder Ikari seemed utterly nonplussed with his audience.

"Inspector Kaji," Ikari said.

"Ikari," Kaji replied. "If you would be so kind as to finish your business, we have a little under 26 minutes to get you as far away from here as possible."

Gendo's expression did not change. "And why would you wish to free me, inspector?"

"You provide an interesting source of consternation for SEELE," Kaji said. "When the old men worry about you, then tend to make mistakes. When they make mistakes, they let things slip that bring me closer to the truth."

The other man smirked, a less than pleasant expression. "And you do not wish for me to tell you that truth in exchange for my freedom?"

"There is the matter of trust," Kaji said, "or the lack thereof. I doubt I could take your word for anything without digging up additional evidence to back it up."

"You are a cautious man, inspector," Gendo said, "which begs the question of why you would risk breaking me out of here. Would this not damage your relationship with Colonel Katsuragi?"

"General Katsuragi now," Kaji said. "She's been given your old job."

The smug expression slipped for the briefest of moments. "I see. Reimer and Sommer are predictable if nothing else."

That claim was in Kaji's opinion complete nonsense, but then again Ikari likely understood Amanda and Soren's true aims even less than Kaji himself.

"So, do you want out or not?" Kaji asked. "If you do, then pull up your pants and let's get going." The man tapped his watch. "We're on a timetable."

Gendo reached for the toilet paper. "If you would give me a minute, inspector, while I finish my business."

Kaji snorted and turned around. Bad enough he had seen the man on the toilet, he did not need to watch him wipe his ass. The wait was fortunately not long and the two passed through the main entrance without much fuss, the looping footage Kaji had inserted into the MAGI keeping the supercomputer from realizing what was going on. They emerged into Terminal Dogma with no one in sight to Kaji's relief. Few people came this deep down into the Geofront but there were times. That and Gendo was right about one thing, if Misato found out he was doing this their newly rekindled relationship would go down in spectacular flames so the last thing Kaji needed was any witnesses.

The two men hurried through the corridors until they reached one of the secondary elevators. Kaji nodded to them.

"This'll take us up into Central Dogma, where I have a route mapped out to the surface. Once there, I can set you up with a car and some cash. After that you're on your own."

"There is no need for that," Gendo said, walking past Kaji to the elevator. "I will be remaining within Terminal Dogma."

Kaji frowned. "What? If you stay down here the MAGI will eventually find you after my overrides expire."

That self-assured smirk again. "You underestimate my own contingencies, inspector. Now that I am out of confinement I have access to everything I need to remain undetected indefinitely within the Geofront. I face greater risk of recapture were I to leave."

Kaji sighed. Of course this was not going the way he thought it would. But then again Soren had only asked him to free the former commander, he never said anything about where Ikari needed to go. It was only due to his own unease about those very contingencies Ikari was so proud of that Kaji wanted the man as far away from Tokyo-3, and Misato and the kids, as possible.

"Look, if you want to stay here then there's nothing I can do to help you," Kaji said. "My plan was very specific and I only have the overrides needed to go from here to the surface without detection. You step into anywhere else and the security cameras will see you."

"You need not be concerned," Gendo said as he hit the elevator button. "There are places where even the MAGI cannot peer into. I will be safe."

The elevator door opened and Gendo stepped in before turning about.

"In gratitude, inspector, for playing your part to perfection, I leave you with this fact. When Instrumentality comes, it will be the EVAs that herald the opening of the doors of Guf."

Kaji looked at the man in confusion as the doors slid closed. The doors of Guf. It was a term he had run across in his research and he was becoming more and more certain it was not just symbolic. Something would happen to the souls of humanity when Instrumentality happened but he was still missing a few key pieces. His datamining of the MAGI was turning out to be considerably less productive, several of the backdoors he expected to be present from his time in Berlin had been plugged by the time of his arrival in Tokyo-3. Almost certainly Amanda's doing. But Kaji was not without resources of his own and if Soren was being level with him soon enough he would have the truth at his fingertips. Kaji pressed the elevator button himself. It was time to go collect his payment. A bit later when he finally emerged into the green landscape of the Geofront. Kaji took a deep breath. One of his more distasteful tasks was now behind him. The man did not have long to enjoy the serenity however as the klaxons began blaring. Kaji cursed. An Angel would choose now to show up. He hurried towards the secondary command center.

The elevator did not take long to reach the desired level and Gendo walked out confidently. There were no cameras on this level, at least none that connected directly to the MAGI. Some secrets were too important to entrust to an open system like that and so any security that existed down here was on a purely closed loop system that Gendo could excise his presence from. He would not take long however, he had but one task to complete before he could make his move. Instrumentality did not really require the defeat of all the Angels, that was a mere formality that the old men in their dogmatism insisted upon. Ikari however was considerably more open minded. He knew what he wanted and he would take it, it was as simple as that.

Gendo punched in the override code and the doors to the dummy plug factory hissed open. As he stepped in however the man froze. The reddish glow of the tanks still bathed him with their light but no shadows were cast upon the floor. They were empty, the tanks that were supposed to hold the spares were empty. But how? Why? Gendo clenched his teeth. It had to have been Reimer and Sommer. The two must have felt assured that the implements SEELE possessed were sufficient for achieve Instrumentality and so convinced the old men to eliminate the Ayanami series entirely to deprive Gendo of their use. His fists tightened. They had destroyed the last remnant of Yui left to him.

He was really backed into a corner now. The options remaining to him to initiate a Third Impact under his terms were almost all gone. No, there was one last thing he could try. Shinji had already demonstrated himself capable of it during the last Angel attack. The soldiers, in their arrogance, had boasted to him about his son's achievement, but Gendo recognized the significance that they were ignorant of. Shinji could awaken Unit 01. If he managed to do that, then Gendo could use his Adams embryo in conjunction with Lilith to trigger Third Impact. The elder Ikari massaged his hand, feeling the pulsing of the entity. All he needed was the right lever and it would be his victory. And Gendo knew exactly what that lever would be. A red haired, blue-eyed German lever.

* * *

"Maria-san doesn't eat with us?" Shinji remarked.

"Nah, girl seems to want to hang with her own clique," Toji said dismissively. "She ate with us like, once, but that was about it."

Asuka shrugged. "Does it matter? If she doesn't want to socialize with us that's her problem."

"Well, I just thought it would be nice if we all got to know each other," Shinji said. "Things got a little, hectic, after her arrival."

An understatement if there was ever any.

"We see her every night for dinner," Asuka said. "If you want to get to know her better, just talk to her there."

"So you're all eating over at General Katsuragi's place?" Kensuke asked.

"Yes," Shinji said. "It, just feels right."

"Now if only Maria could switch up her breakfast menu a bit," Mari said offhandedly.

"Yeah," Asuka agreed. "Scrambled eggs day in and day out? And she doesn't really pay attention when she's cooking so they're always really dry."

"Perhaps you could teach Vincennes-san," Hikari suggested. "If you see a problem, you must be proactive in solving it."

A snort. "That girl doesn't take advice from anyone." A frown. "Well, maybe from the Maestro or Amanda. Little suckup…"

Hikari frowned. "You do not like Vincennes-san?"

"She's just, I don't know, kind of stuck up. When in front of the adults she tries so hard to seem useful but around us it feels like she's just being polite for the sake of it, like she doesn't really care about us," Asuka said. "I'm not sure I would want to know a person like that better."

"That's rich comin' from you," Toji muttered.

A distinctly unhealthy gurgle sounded as Asuka's arm withdrew. Apparently this time the fiery redhead had decided to let her fists do the talking. Tellingly no one came to the jock's defense.

"And Nagisa-san also isn't around," Shinji noted, moving the conversation along.

"You know, I'm not sure where he eats lunch," Kensuke said. "He just seems to up and disappear and no one has any idea where he goes."

"Huh, I wonder why."

That was as far as Shinji got however as the cellphones of the three pilots beeped. Their friends immediately looked up in alarm. They had seen this way too many times before to not know what was about to happen.

"Well, duty calls," Asuka said as she snapped shut her phone after reading the message.

"Huh, they want me on standby even without my EVA," Mari noted.

"Be careful," Hikari said.

"And kick that thing's ass!" Toji shouted, pumping his own fist.

Asuka smirked. "Oh we will stooge, we will."

The klaxons began blaring.

* * *

It felt strange not being down there with the rest of the command staff, Misato mused as she watched the flurry of activity below. Madison was standing where Misato herself would have been not so long ago though Amanda had elected to come up here with Misato. Fuyutsuki still formally retained his position as vice commander and thus stood behind Misato.

"Pattern blue AT-field confirmed," the newly minted First Lieutenant Aoi Mogami reported. "NORAD is tracking and feeding telemetry to us."

"Another Angel in orbit," Misato said with a grimace.

"Suborbital technically," Amanda said. "Still, that positron cannon is looking like a better and better investment."

"Assuming the switchover in the power grid is happening on schedule," Misato said. The one she directed that question to however was not Hyuga but Madison. It was important to go through the proper chain of command and not undermine the new operations chief after all. "Colonel Metz, status on the grid tap?"

Madison looked over at her own terminal. "It's coming online but slower than we would like, as usual. It'll be another half hour before the Earth rotates enough for to bring us into range of the Angel, so we have a bit of time to get the Japanese government to stop dragging their heels."

Misato frowned. "That means the Angel itself is not moving?"

"Correct," Madison confirmed.

"We have visual of the Angel," Aoba said. "Bringing it up on the main projector."

A massive luminescent, serpentine creature hung in the darkness of space. Wing-like structures sprung out from its sides, giving the creature an almost mystical visage. The MAGI stamped the designation assigned to the Fifteenth Angel. Arael. Filters were overlaid over the Angel, reducing the brightness of its light and honing in on a red sphere clasped between what looked almost like a pair of pincers.

"There's its core," Misato noted.

"Convenient," Amanda noted. "That should allow for a clean shot."

"Assuming it doesn't try any nonsense like Sahaquiel did," Misato said.

"Deploy Units 02 and 04," Madison ordered below. "Unit 01 is to remain on standby."

Misato frowned. "She's not deploying Unit 01?"

Amanda leaned over. "We haven't finished verifying that it's safe for Shinji to pilot it yet. If we need to deploy it, trust me, Madison will send it out, but for now she's playing it safe."

"Then what about the Mark 06?" Misato whispered back.

"Remember what I said about the Mark 06's designed purpose," Amanda replied as she straightened. "Besides, with something in orbit we'll be relying on the positron cannon to kill it, not EVAs."

"So long as this Alpha-Orange doesn't make another damn appearance," Misato said bitterly.

"That problem's been dealt with permanently," Amanda said offhandedly.

Misato looked over at her friend in surprise. "When did that happen?"

"Later," Amanda said. "For now focus on killing this Angel."

Misato grimaced. She was getting mildly sick of hearing later so much even if Amanda was right about the Angel taking priority. A few minutes later Units 02 and 04 were on the surface, each one taking hold of a portable positron cannon. If this Angel was also intending to dive-bomb Tokyo-3 they would need all the firepower they could muster to take it out.

From within his own EVA Shinji watched the external feed nervously. He knew why Colonel Metz might be hesitant to deploy Unit 01 but it felt so wrong being stuck down here unable to help. Then again they had moved his EVA to the launch pad so if his presence really was needed there would be no delay in deploying him.

"Kind of a shame we expended all of the N2 mines in orbit against Sahaquiel," Amanda remarked. "As it is we can't even gauge the Angel's AT-field strength until it's within range of the cannon."

"Any words of wisdom on this Angel?" Misato asked.

Amanda tilted her head aside. "Arael, meaning light of god." A pause. "Also supposedly the patron angel of birds."

Misato snorted. "That's not very helpful."

"Would you rather it be reputed for something we instinctively know to fear?"

"Just because right now we do not know what to fear does not mean there is nothing to fear," Misato retorted. "Besides, this waiting is getting on my nerves."

"Imagine how impatient Asuka must be feeling," Amanda said.

The door into the command center slid open and Kaji made his entrance. He cracked a grin at Misato and the woman did her best to not smile back. She needed to retain some dignity as NERV's commanding officer after all. The smile stayed on Kaji's face until he looked over at the projection.

"So that's the Fifteenth Angel. And it hasn't done anything yet?"

"Not as yet," Madison said before grinning herself. "Wanna bet what its special power will be?"

"No thank you," Kaji said, sneaking a look over at Misato and confirming the warning glare she was giving him. "That seems somewhat inappropriate all things considered."

Madison shrugged. "Well we've still got ten minutes before we get to see what tricks it has up its sleeve."

"Ten minutes before it's within effective range of our cannon, but there's no telling what its own range is," Amanda said. "Don't let your guard down."

"That's a lovely thought," Misato muttered.

Amanda tried to remain calm but with the tension leaking over from damn near every member of the collective it was difficult. Madison's humor was a mere façade, half a world away Klinge was steeling herself for the backlash, and Soren, the coldness of Soren's current mental state scared her the most. Despite her relationship with the man Soren never really regarded Amanda and Asuka in the same light. There were a lot of reasons for this, not least because Amanda was not Asuka Langley Shikinami, but at an emotional level Soren treated Asuka as Asuka and Amanda as Amanda. That was not to say Soren did not care greatly for the fiery redhead, but those feelings were strictly paternal. But as more than one person could attest to, a strong paternal instinct could be frightening indeed.

"Five minutes mark," Hyuga reported. "Still no reaction from the Angel."

Back inside her own entry plug Asuka glared impatiently through the targeting visor.

"C'mon, get here already so we can stomp your ass."

In the back of her head Asuka felt the impatience of the Angel as well. Or was her own impatience rubbing off on the Angel? It was hard to tell these days, whenever she was in the EVA she felt as if the two were completely in sync with one another. Asuka tried not to fidget. Her increased synchronization with the EVA meant Unit 02 would respond to even the most minute of her own movements, which could throw off the targeting. It was both a blessing and a curse having the highest on average synchro rating-

A bright light enveloped Unit 02 and Asuka squinted.

"What the hell!?"

"Reaction from the Angel!" the girl heard over the radio.

"Is it an energy attack!?"

"It's-energy levels nominal, it seems to be some sort of light beam?"

"Maybe it's painting Unit 02?"

"Asuka, relocate now!"

That last order came from Madison and Asuka knew she should be obeying. But something within that light held her attention and the girl remained root to her spot alongside her EVA. And then she heard a giggle.

"Was zum Teufel?"

Another giggle, louder this time.

Asuka growled. "Trying mind games, huh? Well bring it on! I already beat one of you at your own tricks!"

A pressure began building in the girl's head. Asuka grit her teeth and focused, trying to push back against the intrusion.

"This is my mind, and no one screws with my mind, you got me!"

A sharp pain suddenly stabbed at the girl's head. Asuka screamed.

Back in the command center the cry from the girl sent a chilling dread down everyone's backs.

"Asuka!" Misato cried, rising abruptly from her station.

"Asuka, respond!" Madison shouted into the radio. "Get your EVA out of there!"

"It's, we're detecting mental contamination within the entry plug!" Maya reported.

"A psychological attack!?" Ritsuko said incredulously.

Misato's eyes went wide. "Shit, we need to get her out of there now!"

"Time until the Angel is in range?" Madison asked.

"At least four more minutes!" Hyuga cried back.

"It's in my head, in my head, in my-GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Four minutes, that was four minutes far too long as everyone down in the command center was concerned.

Up on the surface Asuka tore at her hair even as she clawed at her head.

"Mama!" a voice called.

"You bastard," the girl whispered.

"Mama!"

"You think you're gonna get me with this?"

"Mama! I've been chosen!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"I'm gonna be an EVA pilot!"

"DIE!" The positron cannon erupted and a sphere of antiparticles soared into the sky.

"So please! Look at me!"

Within her mind Asuka watched as a pair of doors were pushed aside by those little hands. Inside the room was an empty bed, a red haired doll with its head torn off lying on the floor before it. A swaying shadow caused the point of view to freeze before it slowly panned upward.

"DIE!" Another shot even as the first impacted, creating a ripple of light as it washed harmlessly over the Angel's AT-field.

Within Asuka's mind, there, hanging from the ceiling, was the broken form of Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami.

"YOU THINK YOU'LL BREAK ME WITH THIS!?"

The body slowly spun about until the contorted face came into view.

"MAMA LOVED ME!"

A pair of cold, piercing eyes locked onto Asuka's.

"BUT SO DOES PAPA!"

The second shot splashed across the Angel's AT-field, again doing no actual damage. Within Asuka's vision the image of her mother distorted, overlapping with memories of other people. Her father hugging her when he first came to Tokyo-3.

"I HAVE AMANDA!"

Another shot. The smiling brown hair woman ruffling the head of a much younger Asuka.

"I HAVE THE MAESTRO!"

Another burst of light briefly outshining the Angel's own. There was Soren, his stern but determined visage as he adjusted the posture of Asuka's left hand as she held up her violin.

"I HAVE KAJI!"

The cannon roared a fourth time. The roguish smile that used to send Asuka's heart all aflutter, now simply a reassuring presence whenever he dropped by the Katsuragi residence.

"I HAVE MISATO!"

Again the Angel's AT-field shielded it from the maelstrom of energy. Misato, mischievously smiling as she teased Asuka.

All those people, people who Asuka knew were there for her, pushing aside the dangling form of her deceased mother. The girl fired again.

"I HAVE SHINJI!"

The smiling, kind boy that had opened his heart to her and accepted hers in turn. The light from each failed hit was no longer a sign of futility, it was a mark of defiance.

"SO DON'T YOU DARE FUCK WITH ME!"

The positron cannon carried by Unit 02 roared, sending three more bolts of energy soaring into the sky and depleting its energy reserves.

"She's too far away, Asuka-san's shots aren't breaking through!" Hyuga said.

Asuka felt another flare of pain. The Angel had apparently decided its first attempt was a failure and was now switching gears.

"BRING IT!"

Pain shot through her body and the girl almost blacked out from its intensity.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Her vitals are getting erratic," Maya said frantically.

"Prioritize pilot life support," Ritsuko ordered. "Begin executing sequence 2 of painkillers."

"Yes ma'am!"

If they reached sequence 3 they would effectively be putting the girl into an induced coma.

"Misato-san! Metz-san!" Shinji cried. "Send me!"

"Shinji, hold tight," Madison said and before the boy could protest she began snapping out more orders. "Maria, weapons locker 65A has a harpoon weapon. Use it to get ahold of Unit 02 and pull it out of the light."

"Roger!"

The silver EVA quickly charged over to the building in question and pulled out the weapon. Taking careful aim she punctured Unit 02's leg. It was a testament to how much mental anguish Asuka was under that she did not even react. With a tug Maria began pulling Unit 02 out from under the light, only to have the Angel adjust and keep the red EVA under its glare.

"Fuck," Madison swore. "Sadistic bastard. Cannon status!"

"Thirty seconds!"

"Hang on Asuka," Madison said. "We're almost there!"

The last half minute seemed to drag on forever, the waiting made all the worse by the sobbing that came from Unit 02. And then Asuka went silent entirely.

"Five seconds!" Hyuga cried.

"Fire when ready, don't wait for my command!" Madison ordered.

"-two, one, firing!"

The light from the positron cannon might not have eclipsed that of the Angel but it still cast an impressive glow upon the city. None of the men and women of NERV paid much attention to this however, their focus fixed solely on the progress of the beam as it climbed up into the sky. The targeting was perfect and the Angel made no move to evade. In some respects this should have been an easy victory for NERV, a long distance shot that did not require putting any of the pilots in danger. But in trying to cover the possibilities of another orbital drop NERV had deployed its two combat ready EVAs and thus exposed their pilots to attack. Now humanity was hammering home its response, its fury, and its grief as the stream of positrons collided with Arael's AT-field and punched through. The Angel's core slowly evaporated under the bombardment of energy and with it the light that Arael shone. A screech that somehow carried through despite the airless space swept through Tokyo-3 as the Angel cried out in its death throes. Yet all the men and women of NERV could think of was a vindictive satisfaction at hearing it. This Angel had dared desecrate one of their pilots, attempted to violate her in the most private ways imaginable. A clean death was overgenerous as far as most of them were concerned.

As the light faded about Unit 02 the EVA slumped down. Personnel were already scrambling to recover the EVA and provide assistance to its pilot. Amongst the people rushing to the surface was a boy still wet from the LCL of his own EVA. No one stopped him as he made his way to the entry plug being pulled out. No one protested him as he pried open the emergency latch. And none had to heart to keep the boy from cradling the still form of the Second Child, who was slumped against her seat, her eyes glazed over.

* * *

The hospital room where Asuka slept was silent save for the beep of the medical equipment. Shinji sat beside the bed, standing vigil over the girl he loved. The doctors could not find anything physically wrong with Asuka and assured him that she would wake soon enough and Shinji was determined to be there for her when she did. She had been there for him after all.

In the room next door Misato regarded the scene through the observation window. Amanda and Soren were with her, the German man having appeared in the medical wing even before Asuka was brought down. How he had known his prized pupil was hurt Misato could not say, though she would not be surprised if he was still tapped into NERV's command grid and so saw the frantic reports while in the shelters.

"Ritsuko said the Angel first appeared to try to overload Asuka emotionally," Amanda said, "but she was too strong. Too determined. And so it switched tact and tried to overload her via sensory means. Specifically, pain."

Misato's face twisted into one of barely contained rage. "That fucking bastard. I hope it hurt when we shot it. I hope it hurt a lot."

The others said nothing but nothing needed to be said for Misato to know her friends agreed with the sentiment. These were their kids and no adult liked seeing children in their care hurt like this, even if they were the ones that were forced to put them into harm's way. But with Arael's defeat there were only two Angels left, two Angels to kill before the war was finally over.

Soren walked over to the door and entered the medical ward. Shinji looked up but simply nodded to the German man as he entered. Soren returned the greeting before stepping over to Asuka's bedside. He pulled out an SDAT and headphones, placing the player on Asuka's bedside and putting the headphones over the girl's ears.

"A gift, Fraulein, to ease your dreams," Soren said.

The German man caressed the girl's face before taking his leave. Shinji smiled at that even as he idly wondered where Soren had gotten the player. It looked just like his for that matter. Leaning over Shinji listened in a bit to hear what was being played and was greeted with the vibrant echoes of string instruments. It was an orchestral arrangement, one that set a gentle and soothing pace. Shinji sat back down. He hoped it would give Asuka sweet dreams indeed.

* * *

"He's WHAT!?"

The major cringed. "Umm, the former commander appears to have escaped."

Misato stared at the man in disbelief before her fists slammed down on the desk. "HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!?"

"We, think Ikari used the chaos of the Angel attack to slip away," Kudo said, wishing that Colonel Kayabuki had not decided he should serve as the messenger for this news. "The logs of the guards on station indicate that they checked in upon him about twenty minutes before the attack but when the alert came in they were pulled out to their usual stations with the rest of the regiment."

"Oh fucking lovely," Misato cursed. She glanced over at Ritsuko. "Have the MAGI seen any sign of him?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "Either he's left Tokyo-3 entirely or he's gone into the deepest parts of Terminal Dogma where the surveillance system does not extend."

"Then we need to organize a sweep," Misato said. "I want-"

"Belay that," a voice called from the door into the gargantuan office Misato now occupied.

The three individuals present looked over to see Soren entering.

"What did you just say?" Misato demanded.

"Access to Terminal Dogma is heavily restricted for reasons you are perfectly aware of, General Katsuragi," Soren said as he walked over. "You do not have enough personnel cleared for entry down there to conduct an effective search. I will handle recapturing or eliminating Ikari, your job is to ensure that the pilots and EVAs are secure from any manipulation or harm that he might attempt."

Misato frowned. "You're serious about just letting him have free run down there? Are you insane?"

Soren glanced over at Kudo. "Major, your news has been delivered, consider yourself dismissed."

Kudo in turn glanced over at Misato who gave him a curt nod. The man saluted and beat a hasty retreat, all too eager to get out of the eventual blast zone. Ritsuko looked after him almost wistfully as if jealous of the escape the man was given. Once the door closed behind Kudo Soren spoke once more.

"I am not letting Ikari have free reign, as you so claim," he said. "All of his old codes have been locked out of the MAGI, including several backdoors that he probably thought were safe. I will also be going down into Terminal Dogma with my own team and we will lock down the various systems down there manually. Assuming he is down there, that should keep him from any sort of successful sabotage."

Misato still looked unhappy but nodded in acceptance of Soren's plan. "Fine. But I want to be kept in the loop about this."

"Very well."

"And I want to know just how the hell Alpha-Orange was supposedly dealt with."

That elicited a raised eyebrow at Soren and Misato snorted.

"Amanda told me it was no longer a problem."

"Ah," Soren said. "While in Germany it came for me again. We were able to capture it and using some equipment from the Third Branch terminate it permanently."

Misato frowned. "That's it?"

"That's it," Soren said flatly.

The frown did not go away. "I'm not sure I entirely believe you, but it's pretty obvious you're not going to tell me anything more. But are you absolutely certain it won't be showing up again to go after my kids?"

"Very."

"Then that's good enough, for now," Misato said.

Soren nodded. "Then if you will excuse me, I have a meeting with Ryoji."

Something about the way her friend said that caused Misato to look after him as he headed for the door. Even after it slid shut Misato still stared.

"Misato?"

The woman shook herself. "Sorry, I just had what felt like a premonition."

"A good or bad one?" Ritsuko asked.

"In my experience there are never good premonitions," Misato said. "Anyway, you were saying about Asuka's condition?"

"Yes," Ritsuko said, flipping open her notes again. "Physically Asuka is actually fine. We think she'll actually wake within the next day or so but she's going to be shaky. It'll help significantly if the people she is close with are there for her. You, Amanda, Soren, Shinji-kun, Kaji, and so on. I suppose also Mari would count. Maybe even her friend from school, Horaki-san."

Misato grimaced. "Maybe. But I'd rather not make any further demands on Hikari-san. For now let's see if those of us here will be enough to help her."

Ritsuko nodded. "Anyway, that's it for Asuka herself. We'll keep monitoring Asuka and do what we can to help her through this. As far as Unit 02 goes, Maria's little stunt didn't really cause much substantial damage. With the S2 organ Unit 02's regeneration is considerably accelerated and it should be ready to go within two days."

"Assuming Asuka still wants to get in the thing," Misato said glumly.

"She may have to," Ritsuko reminded her friend.

"I know." Misato sighed. "Only two more to go, but god knows what the cost of defeating them will be."

The intercom on Misato's desk beeped. The woman pressed down on it.

"Yes?"

"Excuse me ma'am," a confused sounding Hyuga spoke, "but the MAGI just detected a small force of soldiers entering into the Tokyo-3 exclusive zone."

Misato frowned. "Soldiers?"

"Yes ma'am. Based on their kit they appear to be JSSDF. I've already spoken with Colonel Kayabuki and she confirms that all her troops are accounted for."

Misato growled. "What the hell are they playing at. Continue monitoring them and put a TacOps team on standby."

"Yes ma'am."

Ritsuko regarded Misato. "This is unexpected."

"You're telling me," Misato said. "The last thing we need is for the JSSDF to be starting up more shit."

* * *

Kaji took another puff of his cigarette. He really should look into quitting, Misato had been on him to do so ever since they got back together. Maybe after this whole mess with SEELE and the Angels was over the stress would taper off and let him relax enough to try it. For now though adding on nicotine withdrawal to the list of things keeping him up all night was not something he was terribly enthusiastic about.

The rundown building he was in had been selected by the UN inspector for its relative obscurity yet proximity to Tokyo-3. Soren had asked that they meet somewhere relatively private in order to hand off the key, which Kaji had no real objections to. There was always the possibility that his friend would use this as an opportunity to kill him but Kaji doubted something that cliché would happen with the two of them. Soren had an agenda that was served by Kaji poking around SEELE and NERV. From all indications it seemed as if he and Amanda wanted Kaji to discover the truth, eventually. That suggested they too were working against SEELE despite having been in on the conspiracy likely from the start. If they had been at it this long they were definitely very good at it, meaning he could trust them to not screw up this close to the end.

Kaji's ears perked. There was someone coming, someone trying to be very very quiet. Someones in fact. He dropped the cigarette and ground it with his shoe even as he reached for his pistol. Soren might not want him dead but there were plenty of other people who did. Perhaps calling Soren here from his cell was a bad idea after all.

The roads leading out from Tokyo-3 were either excellent or complete crap depending on where one was trying to go. Considering the location Kaji had requested they meet up at Soren had decided to forego his BMW and instead was driving one of the SUVs Section-2 kept on hand. As he approached however a strange sight greeted him. Soren frowned as a soldier waved for him to stop. He did so even as one hand gripped his pistol.

The soldier walked over to the lowered window. "I'm afraid you'll have to turn back sir, this is a restricted area."

Soren regarded the man. Japanese in full combat gear with no identifying patches. JSSDF, no doubt, no other army within the Self-Defense Force maintained what was essentially a covert strike team.

"Under whose authority," Soren said flatly.

The soldier frowned. "This is a restricted military area sir, and you do not have permission to be here. I am going to have to _insist_ that you turn back, now."

The man was clutching his rifle just a bit tighter Soren noted. The German man stared at the soldier for another few seconds before pulling out his phone and hitting speed dial.

"Sir-"

"Colonel Kayabuki," Soren said, having already warned the woman mentally so she knew to pick up immediately, "this is General Reimer." The Japanese soldier looked like he had just choked on something at hearing this. "JSSDF forces are on an unauthorized operation in the UN designated zone. Deploy your forces to my position and apprehend them. Lethal force is authorized to stop any from escaping back into Japanese jurisdiction."

Soren hung up and side his phone back into his suit pocket. The soldier accosting him took another second to react.

"You bast-

The Glock18 thundered and the man's head exploded into gory bits. The German hit the gas pedal and the SUV roared past the crumbling body. The JSSDF soldiers opened fire but the Section-2 SUV was very bullet resistant and shrugged off the hits. One soldier had the imagination to reach for a grenade but suddenly found himself minus a hand. He looked down in shock, taking too long to notice the additional absence of the pin he his fingers were looped through. The grenade exploded a second later, taking him and two of his comrades out.

Soren threw all subtlety out the window as went cross-country and raced toward the meeting spot. The only reason the JSSDF would be out here would be if they knew about this meeting, meaning either he or Kaji was being targeted. Seeing as the JSSDF soldier had tried to warn him off that meant his friend was in mortal danger. As he came into sight of the rundown buildings Soren saw he was right. Two JSSDF Strykers, one with a machinegun mounted on it, were parked on the roadside and he could make out two squads of soldiers. The machinegun traversed. Soren cursed, slamming his foot down and hoping that he could cover the distance before the SUV was taken apart. It was bullet resistant, not armored against large caliber rounds.

The SUV bounced across the terrain, plowing right through one soldier who decided it was a good idea to try playing chicken even as sounds slammed into its side. A rear wheel was shot off outright while a fire erupted thanks to a tracer punching through the gas tank. Momentum however carried the vehicle forward until it its energy was spent by smashing into the wall of the building. Soren kicked open the door and hopped out, wasting no time ducking deeper into the building. He already had a read on Kaji's location but the man's pattern was faint and growing fainter.

A JSSDF fire team sweeping the building did not even realize what was upon them as Soren's pistol barked. Each shot unerringly left bloody holes in their skulls and their bodies had not even hit the ground as Soren brushed past. More gunfire could be heard ahead, indicating Kaji was fighting back. Or trying to at least seeing as the pistol that was likely his was nearly inaudible with the roar of rifles. Soren did not bother with finesse, he slapped in a new clip before charging into the fray and spraying the JSSDF soldiers. All of them went down, panicked screams as a demon tore through them with seemingly no effort. Some Soren dispatched with casual disregard, others saw a barrel shoved into their faces before darkness took them. When he was done the room was filled with bloodied faces, shattered jaws, or smashed eye sockets. The empty clip rang as it hit the ground even as a fresh one snapped into place.

"Kaji?" Soren called.

No response. Soren walked toward the room the JSSDF had been shooting at, keeping his gun pointed down. As he peered into the doorway he grimaced. Kaji was leaning against the wall just next to the frame, breathing heavily, one hand pressed against a blood soaked stain on his chest.

"Soren," he whispered, cracking a grin.

The man's legs gave out and Soren caught hold of him, letting him down gently. Soren examined the wound and then his friend.

"I can't stem the bleeding," the German man said softly.

"I figured as much," Kaji said even more quietly. "But still, you came for me. I appreciate it."

Soren's jaws tightened. "This, wasn't supposed to happen."

Kaji tried to chuckle but only ended up coughing. A splatter of blood colored his hand.

"Stay still," Soren said.

Kaji dropped his gun and gripped Soren's arm. "Promise me. That you'll take care of Katsuragi."

Soren took hold of the man's wrist and squeezed. He met Kaji's eyes and hoped the man could see the sincerity in them.

"I promise."

The smirk returned as Kaji leaned back against the wall.

"Thanks," he whispered.

The grip slackened and Kaji's fingers fell away from Soren's wrist. The eyes that now stared out at Soren held no light within them. Soren's knuckles turned white as he gripped his pistol. The sound of shuffling boots echoed in the hallway, the cries of soldiers as they discovered their comrades reaching the German man. He closed his friend's eyes and stood. This was not the end. No, it was not the end. Soren stepped out into the hallway.

End of Chapter 39

The ability of people to misconstrue my notes is somewhat impressive. Let us take a look at what I wrote last time.

"I, have no idea where the notion of Asuka Suzuhara came from."

Where in that sentence is there a suggestion that there is an Asuka Suzuhara in my story?

"Amanda's name is based on her prime identity without any modifications relating to relationship. Note that the lack of an L in her name is completely intentional and reflects what her prime identity's name is."

Considering the above statement makes explicit that every sidestepper's name is based on their maiden/whatever names, how is it possible that one could construe that Amanda Sommer is Asuka Suzuhara based on her name? Since I'm pretty explicit in that Amanda Sommer is based on Amanda's real, original, unmodified name?

"Not all of the guesses are, wrong, per se"

Not all. Meaning some are not wrong. But others are wrong. Combined with the above two sentences, I think it's pretty bloody clear which one is wrong.

Allow me to make something very explicit. Every single sidestepper, except for Soren, is directly derived from Gainax/Khara. Some are more, obscure, than others, but besides Soren, who I borrowed from a discarded fic idea of mine, all of them are from the formal EVA multiverse of primary, secondary, tertiary, and even non-canon. Now the fact that no one's been able to guess Amanda's identity is interesting, primarily because I gave a major clue as to who she is/which of the Gainax materials she comes from in one of the scenes a couple of chapters back. I suppose it's an indication that the current generation of fans aren't as familiar with that set of source material, not that I entirely blame them seeing as there is very, very little of said material. Obviously I'm still not going to reveal who she is, seeing as it is going to be coming into play within the next two chapters or so.

Anyway, moving on. Another very lengthy chapter, approximately 8.5k words. Part of the reason it took so long to write was ultimately real life concerns cropping up. Another is the latest chapter of _A Cold Calculus_ ended up being harder to put together than I thought it would be so a delay in getting that out cascaded to a delay in starting this chapter. And also I wanted to make sure the battle with Arael was decent. I'm still undecided on whether I actually succeeded in that.

I am aware that a lot of fix-fics or Peggy-Sues have saving Kaji as something of a standard convention. On the other hand I'm pretty sure that if you've read up to this point, you are aware this is not your typical fix-fic and it is most certainly not a conventional Peggy-Sue. I mentioned before that the sidesteppers are not infallible, that their mistakes can and will cost people lives. Mayumi was the first such victim, now Kaji is a second. By the time the sequel is done, assuming I ever write it, the body count of people that Shinji and Asuka know that die will be much higher. Some of you are probably wondering why, since another convention of Peggy-Sues is to try to make as many people happy as possible. Except, if you look back, can any of you really claim that the collective's overriding goal is to make sure everyone is happy?

What Wilhelm said to Shinji last chapter was basically, "Take care of my spirited daughter." The original translation I wanted was "troublesome daughter" but the German didn't quite work out so I went with a friend's suggestion of using spirited instead.

We are nearing the end. I'm pretty sure Armisael's battle will only start next chapter so we're looking at at least two more chapters before the collective executes its endgame. And boy what an endgame it will be.

Note, I am running a bit low on energy right now, banging out over 300k words in, what, six months? Yeah, that's a lot. That's the equivalent of a full length novel. Perhaps even two novels. So don't be surprised if the next couple of chapters take a while.


	41. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Anfassen

Misato dropped to her knees, her face ashen. Soren stood rigidly before her, his clothing somewhat ragged and more than a few holes and tears marking hits that just barely avoided his actual body. The woman's attention was not on her friend though, it was on the body that the regimental soldiers had borne back with utmost respect. Kaji's face looked peaceful, that trademark smirk of his still plastered on. One might be forgiven in thinking the man was simply asleep, dreaming serenely. But no, this sleep was all too final.

"Why," Misato rasped.

Soren nodded to the soldiers who all snapped sharp salutes before marching out. Amanda knelt down by her friend and wrapped an arm around the woman.

"Why," Misato repeated, her voice cracking as tears welled up.

"SEELE bypassed us," Soren said flatly. "We always assumed they would order me to kill Ryoji, instead they used the JSSDF."

Misato looked up at Soren, her eyes misty even as tears began streaking down her cheek.

"Why," Misato spat out.

"Because Ryoji was too close to the truth," Amanda said softly. "They knew he couldn't be turned, so they killed him."

Misato rubbed her eyes. "Damn it, you promised you'd look out for him!"

The two Germans grimaced but they issued no denials. How could they, when they indeed did promise?

"You promised," Misato whispered as her body trembled.

Soren knelt down before Misato. "We did. And we broke that promise. I am sorry Misato, if I could go back I would have gotten there faster. I would have pulled him out earlier regardless of the suspicions that might arouse. But we never realized SEELE would use a third party for this. We got sloppy and there is no excusing that."

The woman sniffed, clutching her chest as she tried to keep from breaking down completely. She knew Soren was telling the truth, knew in the bottom of her heart that her friend would have done everything possible to save Kaji if he had suspected for a moment the man's life was in danger. That he had gone to extreme lengths to reach Kaji once he did realize what was going on, even calling in the regiment to provide backup. And that every single one of Kaji's murderers were dead now because Soren had gone on a rampage after his friend was slain. But that did not change the fact that Kaji was now gone, that she was alone. As Misato panted, trying to steady her breathing, she completely missed the door opening once more. She completely missed the tentative footsteps that sounded behind her. And then she heard her name.

"Misato-san?"

Misato spun around, nearly toppling over before Amanda caught hold of her. There standing before her at eye level was Shinji, the boy's features twisted with a mixture of grief and worry. Next to him was Hayashima, the boy's, no, their psychiatrist.

"Shinji-kun, what are you doing in here?" Misato demanded.

"Hayashima-sensei told me what happened," Shinji said, his fists clenched.

Misato began to glare at the doctor before Shinji suddenly reached out and embraced the woman.

"You're not alone, Misato-san," he said. "You're not alone. I'm here for you, okay? So, cry if you have to. But remember, you're not alone."

Misato felt her body tense up at the touch but found herself slowly wrapping her arms around her adopted son. She squeezed, clutching the boy and burying her face in his shoulders. The tears flowed freely now and her sobs echoed in the room. Shinji tightened his own grip. The death of the older man tore at him as well. Ever since his arrival Kaji had made the effort to get to know him better, showing off his little garden in the Geofront and giving Shinji advice whenever the boy needed it. The thought of Kaji becoming his father if he and Misato actually got together had been something Shinji was even tentatively looking forward to. But now that potential family was ripped apart before it ever had a chance and Shinji felt the pain of that loss acutely. He held onto Misato, his own eyes starting to tear up.

The other three adults in the room made no sound, at least here. In the mental link they shared with the rest of the collective however Amanda's screams were loud and clear.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?"

The others tried to keep their cringing from being physically reflected.

"HOW THE HELL DID WE FUCK UP THIS BADLY!?" she went on. "Klinge! Was there seriously no indication that SEELE was planning to off Ryoji!?"

"None," Klinge said, ignoring the less than civil tone of her nominal subordinate. "All indications are Hiroto Ikari went ahead and arranged the entire thing himself through the JSSDF. Our SDF contacts didn't even see this coming until after the fact."

Amanda directed her attention to one such contact. "Hiraga, there wasn't any sort of peep?"

"I was not even aware the JSSDF was on the move until reports filtered back about some sort of mysterious training exercise," Hiraga said. "By then their strike team was already in place and Soren had run into them."

"Goddamn it! Is the score still intact!? Ryoji's survival was supposed to be a fixed event!"

Soren's eyes flickered as he regarded the others. "Was it?"

Amanda looked at him incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course it-"

The woman stopped midsentence and spun about to look at the others.

"It was a fixed event, right?" she asked in a flat tone. "It was part of our deal with you, wasn't it, Generalmajor?"

Klinge remained silent, causing Amanda's frustrations to well up.

"Well!?" the woman demanded.

The older woman sighed. "The fixed event was, Kaji's death. Not his survival."

Despite having expected something, Amanda's eyes still widened. "WHAT!?"

"Please, explain," Soren said very coldly.

Klinge clasped her hands behind and shifted. "We've gamed this score countless times before, working out what permutations would occur with every change we made. We examined what chain of events would lead to desired results and we anchored those events into place to create our fixed events. One of the problems that we needed to work around was the effect of unintended side effects, saving some people might end up getting others killed, that sort of thing."

"I'm well aware of the mechanics of score building," Amanda said brusquely. "Get to the point."

Klinge pursed her lip. "You will recall that trying to arrange for Kaji's survival was atrociously difficult. One of the biggest problems was the fact that he generally refused to keep his head down, or he would insist on going back for Katsuragi. Conversely his death would serve as a prime instigator for a variety of events that we wanted to happen. And so, I made a call. For the greater good, I was prepared to give up Kaji."

Amanda's expression froze. "You-you-you gave up, on saving Ryoji."

"We couldn't save him," Klinge said softly, "not without putting at risk the endgame. And as you've kept reminding us, we can't be in this just for our own sakes. As much as I wanted Kaji to live, to be with Katsuragi, I couldn't prioritize that over humanity's future." Klinge spread her arms out. "And so I made the call to let him go."

"But-but that was your recompense!" Amanda said. "Why would you give that up!?"

Klinge smiled sadly. "Because I know myself well enough. I know that deep down, I would never forgive myself for jeopardizing humanity's survival for petty self-need." The woman glanced over at Soren. "Isn't that how we got into this whole mess in the first place?"

Soren's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you are suggesting-"

"Ayanami's survival is a fixed event," Klinge assured the man. "The only one that I manipulated to hide from you was Kaji's."

"Why didn't you just tell us," Amanda growled. "Why did you even bother hiding it?"

Soren glanced at the other members of the collective, several of whom were looking more than a tad guilty.

"She did tell others," Soren concluded. "She simply did not tell _us_."

"But why!?"

"Because you two were too close," Klinge stated. "You would have had to lie to Misato to her face about Kaji. Do you really think you could have done that?"

Amanda ground her teeth but made no denial.

"And also because I didn't want you to try talking me out of this," Klinge said as she smiled sadly. "You always had a strong sense of honor, Amanda. You would have insisted on trying to find a way to keep your end of the bargain. This, was hard enough to go through without you doing that."

The anger suffusing Amanda was dampened by those words though she still felt an immense frustration. This was not supposed to be how this worked. Each and every member of the collective had been promised something in exchange for their cooperation. For Soren it was to be reunited with his Rei Ayanami and the survival of this score's Ayanami. For Klinge it was supposed to be Kaji's survival so that he and Misato would have a chance together. Now though, now Klinge was making clear that when all was said and done she was prepared to sacrifice the happiness of her counterpart for humanity's sake.

"Is there anyone else out there who would like to confess?" Amanda said pointedly.

More sheepish looks appeared. Amanda felt like clutching her head and keeling over.

"Why did I even bother promising all of you anything!?"

"To give us hope," Hiraga spoke up. "We all understood that it might well be impossible to guarantee all of our wishes in the composed score. And so we did our best, tried to at least increase the odds for those wishes we could not guarantee, and hoped for the best. And we accept this. Our goal is bigger than just our own desires after all, it's for the future of the entire human race. We couldn't sacrifice that just for our own sakes."

"You bunch of freaking idiots," Amanda said, though there was no malice in her words. A weary, irritated, reluctant acceptance, but no malice.

"I hope you did not include me in your collective selflessness," Soren said pointedly.

"We also accept that you are something of a special case," Hiraga said. "That, well, to be frank, all three of you are somewhat special cases. And if anyone is owed having their wishes granted, it's you three. So we made sure that you three will get what you want."

Amanda blinked, unsure of just how she should respond whereas Soren simply nodded. The man was honest if nothing else.

"How shall we proceed then?" Soren asked, businesslike as usual.

Amanda shot him a scowl but did not outright reprimand him. She looked over at Klinge.

"I presume you considered that after making, this, a fixed event?"

Klinge nodded. "I have a variety of contingencies in place. Most importantly right now is that we do not let Asuka know what has happened."

"No shit, she does not need this dumped on her," Amanda agreed. "I'll also make sure Shinji keeps his mouth shut."

"The other is priming Katsuragi," Klinge said. "You needed a justification for the JSSDF to assault Tokyo-3. What better reason than to have NERV's newest commander go rogue after the last Angel is dealt with?"

"Clever," Soren said. "In that case I will likely need to officially be taken out of the picture by Nagisa."

""She'd have to officially take me out as well," Kayabuki added.

"And probably me as well," Madison chimed in.

"The operations section is behind her one hundred percent," Amanda said. "We could pretty plausibly pull it off, though we would have to handle the regiment with a great deal of care."

"Alternatively we have Kayabuki defect from SEELE instead of going along with their plans," Soren said, glancing over at the woman. "The council always did consider you to be a secondary asset. Their suspicions would not be too greatly aroused if you turned against them."

"Thanks," Kayabuki said, sticking her tongue out at Soren.

Soren shrugged. "We must make use of every advantage we have if we are to stand any chance."

"The probability of our success is fairly high right now," Klinge said, "but we should not become overconfident. There is also no telling what other twists the score has in store for us. Do not forget, it does not need to deviate from the roadmap we created to surprise us."

The assembled nodded in agreement with that one. After all, they still did not know just what role Gendo Ikari was yet to play that demanded his continued survival. But once the man was no longer necessary for their goals the elder Ikari would be receiving a bullet without any further formality. Until then though they would guard the children under their care so that at least they would be insulated from all this insanity. Or so they hoped.

"What about the JSSDF?" Amanda asked, getting them back on track. "They're not exactly going to write off the loss of one of the special operations units."

"Depends on how we want to play this," Klinge said. "We can either use this to rile them up even more or we can disappear the whole lot to make them wonder what actually happened."

"We'll disappear them," Soren said, "at least from the JSSDF's sight. We'll show them to the regiment however, that should help solidify their resolve when the time comes."

Kayabuki's face twisted in mild irritation but she nodded.

"Very well then," Klinge said, "I will leave that in your hands. General Hiraga, I trust you will take care of things on the SDF side?"

Hiraga nodded.

"Then ladies and gentlemen, let us not tarry," Klinge said. "The new dawn is yet to rise."

* * *

Asuka wakened to a familiar melody playing in her ears. Spring, by Vivaldi, her mind reflexively identified. For a moment the girl felt as if she were floating there in a sea of music. And then she realized that that floating sensation was no sensation at all, it was the absence of sensation that she was experiencing. Asuka slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurred to begin with but quickly clearing up. A rustle to her side alerted the girl to another's presence and she glanced over to see a visibly relieved Shinji smiling at her.

"Asuka," the boy said, reaching out to remove the headphones Asuka was not even aware were over her ears. "I'm so glad you're awake."

For his part after spending a little time comforting his adopted mother Shinji had returned to his vigil at Asuka's side. He had received a very stern warning from Amanda not to mention Kaji around the girl, one he accepted without hesitation. She had suffered enough already and did not need the death of such an important figure in her life weighing upon her right now.

"Shinji," the girl whispered, raising her arm but hesitating immediately.

The girl flexed her fingers, watching her body obey her commands even as she felt no sensation of those fingers actually moving or brushing against each other. Shinji seemed to misinterpret her actions and reached out, taking hold of the girl's hand. Only then did Asuka feel anything at all as a warmth suffused her hand.

"Shinji," the girl said, her voice trembling.

"What's wrong Asuka?" Shinji asked, concern crossing his face.

"I-I can't feel my body," the girl whispered.

Shinji blinked, not sure what the redheaded girl meant at first. His mouth fell open however as comprehension dawned on him.

"I-" Asuka rasped, "I-I can't feel-"

Shinji pulled the girl into his arms and Asuka allowed herself to sink into his embrace. There, where their skin touched, she felt a warmth that she desperately needed. Her body was cold and numb, the girl uncertain whether her limbs were even obeying her as she tried to cling onto her boyfriend. Her eyes were awash with tears and unable to see the only confirmation Asuka had of her body moving at all was as she felt her arms brush against Shinji's neck. There and where Shinji's own hands caressed her were the only places where Asuka felt anything at all. The girl cried.

* * *

Misato hated her new office. It was big and meant to be intimidating but ultimately it was a giant pain in the ass walking over to her desk from the entrance. She was also starting to really hate her job, not just as commander of NERV but the whole fighting Angels thing. The war had dragged her kids literally through hell and back and had cost her the love of her life. And now, even as she was trying to cope with Kaji's death, it looked like Asuka's condition had deteriorated.

"We're still running tests," Ritsuko said, "at least when we can pry Shinji and Asuka apart, but preliminary results indicate that Asuka's sense of, well, touch, has been significantly curtailed. She doesn't even feel her own body moving or notice when she bumps into things. Human contact also produces limited reactions, or rather only very specific human contact seems to get through to her. It has to be skin to skin, clothing completely negates it, and only people Asuka is psychologically close to can get her to feel anything when they touch her. Shinji-kun's the obvious one. Mari was also successful. Myself and Maya were not." Ritsuko glanced at a few of the other women present. "You three probably would also get through to her."

The three in question were Amanda, Madison, and Misato, all looking more than a little grim.

"Do we know the cause?" Misato asked softly.

Ritsuko grimaced. "The current hypothesis is that this is an aftereffect of Arael's attack. The Angel tried to overwhelm Asuka psychologically, basically trying to break her mentally by inflicting emotional trauma on her. Asuka however withstood it and so the Angel changed tact. It went for basically a physiological attack, attempting to overwhelm her by overloading her pain receptors. This did succeed, insomuch as Asuka blacked out. What we're seeing now is likely the consequence of the attack."

Madison ground her teeth. "These kids just cannot get a goddamn break."

"Treatment options?" Amanda asked.

"I honestly have no idea," Ritsuko admitted. "This is so far beyond anything we've seen before that I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Do what you can Ritsuko," Misato said. "I don't want Asuka to live the rest of her life locked in like that."

Ritsuko nodded.

"Alright," Misato said, massaging her temples. "I don't even really want to ask this, but what's Unit 02's status?"

"It's more or less operational," Ritsuko said. "It regenerated extremely quickly, likely helped by the Angel and its S2 organ, and we've already finished replacing the leg armor."

"And Asuka's chances of synchronizing with it?" Misato asked softly.

"We'd have to get her to try to find out," Ritsuko said. "Her mental state has to be a mess right now but, getting back into the EVA might even do her some good."

"There is that," Misato agreed halfheartedly. The woman then glanced over at Amanda. "So, two Angels left. I don't suppose you have any wisdom to share about them?"

Amanda pursed her lip. "The next Angel's designation is Armisael. The literal meaning of the name is the mountain of the judgment of God. Symbolically it is supposed to be the angel of the womb."

"The womb," Misato said with a frown. "Could that mean it could create spawn like Matarael did?"

"Maybe, and if so we'll really need as many EVAs as we can field," Amanda said reluctantly. "That means getting Asuka back on her feet."

"She needs time," Misato insisted, before muttering, "we all need time."

"We can't control when the next Angel will show up," Amanda said. "Until then Asuka can get all the rest she needs, but we need to do something to pick up her spirits."

"Sounds like you have an idea," Madison said, despite knowing exactly what her friend had in mind.

"Soren's actually," Amanda said. "He's making the arrangements now."

* * *

Halfway across Tokyo-3 the German man entered the concert hall he had been a guest of these past few months. The season was winding down and there were only a few more performances before the end of the year. Soren's contract was also almost over and in the short time he was here no musician would dispute that the German man had left an indelible mark upon all of them. For all his stoicism, and insistence that they continue performing in a city targeted by giant eldritch abominations, the man's ability as a musician was truly unparalleled. At the same time Soren had sown a generosity of spirit that at least equaled his skill as a violinist. It was not just his occasional sharing of the contents of his wine cellar, the man also paid attention to each of his fellow musicians, their moods and habits and their day to day conduct. If the German felt there was a problem he would directly approach it and do his best to resolve it instead of letting it fester. The man's approach was singularly un-Japanese but his dynamism could not be denied.

For all these reasons and many more the men and women of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra had lingered after the rehearsal at the request of their guest concert master. Before the rehearsal itself Soren had asked that they stay a bit to consider a request of his. More than one person would admit to being rather distracted thanks to those words but they had made it through and would soon learn just what it was Soren wanted. The German man set aside his violin and nodded to the conductor who returned the motion before stepping down from the podium. Soren climbed up into his place and looked out at the assembled musicians, his peers but also those that relied upon him. He bowed deeply, eliciting murmurs of surprise from them.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, head still down. "I have a great favor to ask of all of you."

And so Soren spoke, of a young girl that he had tutored for many years and who held great promise as a violinist. A girl that had come to Tokyo-3 many months ago, answering a call of duty. Gasps rippled through the audience as they inferred what Soren meant. Despite the information blackout NERV and the UN attempted to enforce for the residents of Tokyo-3 knowledge of the EVAs' existence was quite common. Fewer believed in the more outlandish rumors like how the giant robots were piloted by mere children but here was their concert master, a man they respected and trusted, effectively claiming that his pupil, one the musical world had always speculated about but could never confirm actually existed, was somehow involved with the EVAs.

Then Soren laid out his request. To give this girl, whom had been gravely harmed in the line of duty, a chance to experience what it was like to share her music with the world. A chance that she might never have again thanks to the injuries that she had suffered. A chance to be acknowledged for all her hard work, all before it might well be too late. All this Soren said without rising. Not one person protested the decision to grant the German this request.

* * *

Shinji had been skipping school for the past few days, spending most of his time with Asuka trying to keep her spirits up. They cuddled, talked in a mix of Japanese and German, Shinji fed the girl, they cuddled, there was a lot of cuddling. Asuka had stripped down to basically her underwear and insisted that Shinji himself be only in his boxers. Under any other circumstances the boy, and everyone else for that matter, would have found the request entirely inappropriate. Now however Shinji acquiesced without protest and let the girl cling to him as tightly as possible.

The first time Shinji was called away for a significant amount of time, he was ultimately rushed back to the ward to see Asuka suffering a panic attack. After that the boy was adamant about not leaving Asuka alone for more than a few minutes at a time. This determination was sorely tested when something absolutely demanded his attention but fortunately for both his and Asuka's sake Mari stepped in. The British girl was one of the only other people that Asuka seemed to be able to feel and when Shinji did need to leave for an extended period of time Mari filled in. Asuka accepted this arrangement somewhat grudgingly but accept it she did. In point of fact the one helping Asuka bathe was the pigtailed brunette, sparing Shinji from some extreme awkwardness even considering the current situation. Even with Mari helping out however Shinji did not intend to take very long with his present errand. As he entered the class he was almost immediately mobbed by his friends.

"Ikari," Canon said. "How is Asuka?"

"She's, resting," Shinji answered as truthfully as he could. He would not say she was fine for the girl was most definitely not.

"Do not hesitate to ask if there is something we can help with," Tatsumiya said.

Shinji smiled and nodded. "Actually, there is something." The boy pulled out a handful of tickets. "Are any of you busy tomorrow?"

The boy passed them out, giving three to Hikari and two to Toji in the process. All examined the tickets quizzically.

"The Tokyo Philharmonic?" Toji said. "What's this about?"

"Wait, is Shikinami-san going to be performing?" Kensuke said, not the first to draw the connection but the first to give voice to it.

Shinji nodded. "And, I know she'd appreciate of all of you could come."

"We'll be there," Hikari said firmly. "Right, Toji?"

"Yeah," the jock said. "I still owe her for getting' me into NERV."

"We'll be there too," Canon said. "Umm, is this formal dress?"

"Your school uniforms will be fine," Shinji assured them. "And, thanks."

His errand complete Shinji bade his friends farewell and headed back to the Geofront. As he approached the ward where Asuka was staying the sound of a violin, no, two violins, reached out to him. It seemed Soren was down here helping Asuka rehearse. Shinji smiled. When his girlfriend practiced it almost looked like she could feel the strings as she pressed down upon them. It seemed as if she could feel the tug of the bow as she drew it across. Perhaps it was the memories of her past practices mixed in with the sounds the violin made but when she played the violin Asuka looked full of life again. Shinji hoped that the concert would help the girl recover just a bit more of that life.

"Ikari Shinji-kun."

Shinji stopped and glanced over at the pale boy looking at him.

"Nagisa-san," Shinji greeted politely.

Interactions with the newest pilot at NERV had been few and far in between for Shinji, not least because of all the craziness that had happened. There was also something supremely unsettling about the boy, something that Shinji could not quite place.

"You and the Second seem quite close," Kaworu observed. "I wonder, how impermanent might those bounds me?"

Shinji frowned. "Respectfully, Nagisa-san, I ask you to refrain from remarking on matters that have nothing to do with you."

The stiffness of Shinji's tone seemed to take the other boy aback but the smirk reappeared. "My apologies, Ikari-kun. I meant no disrespect. Consider it a comment on the ephemeral nature of all things."

"Things seem like that because we give up too quickly when holding on gets hard," Shinji replied. "If you will excuse me."

Kaworu regarded Shinji walk away, a frown appearing once the boy's back was to him. The boy was nothing like he expected, at least based on the dossiers SEELE had provided. A testament, perhaps, to Soren and Amanda's efforts in conditioning Shinji. Strangely however said conditioning was making the boy less and less suited for triggering the Instrumentality that SEELE, and theoretically Amanda and Soren, were supposed to want. The only conclusion was that the two were planning on betraying SEELE, a development that Kaworu found more than a little interesting. Of course the only person he had hinted this to, his fellow pilot Maria, had dismissed it after running off to be reassured by the very woman deceiving her. Humans were quite the contradiction. Gifted with free will be all too often wanting to be told what to do and how to think. Kaworu idly wondered if Maria might yet be pushed into thinking for herself. But would that still count as an act of free will? The boy wandered off to find out.

* * *

The concert hall was packed remarkably full especially considering the steady exodus of civilians from Tokyo-3. A good chunk was almost certainly from out of town but as the last concert that Soren Reimer would be holding in Japan for the near future, it was a must for music lovers and the upper strata of Japanese society. So far near everyone could agree that they had gotten their money's worth and as the concert drew towards its conclusion most could only wonder what the virtuoso would give as his parting gift. The conductor climbed atop his podium once more and the crowds fell silent in anticipation. Then, an almost collective intake of breath swept through the audience as Soren entered the stage, no instrument in hand instead pushing a wheelchair that contained a stunning young woman in a brilliant red dress. In the girl's lap were not one but two violins, one obviously Soren's and the other equally obviously hers. Almost no one in the audience had been expecting this and surprised murmurs spread as people wondered just who this girl was. Almost no one, save the small party seated in the front row.

To them, the girl was many things. Friend, rival, annoyance, comrade, family, each one and more could be used to describe their relationships. Tonight however they were all here for her, regardless of anything else.

Soren positioned Asuka so that she faced the audience and gently took his violin from her. The two exchanged a smile before Soren nodded to the conductor. He nodded back and began tapping on the stand. The opening sprang to life as Soren and the orchestra methodically and precisely ascended through the notes. For a few moments Asuka sat there motionlessly. Then as the notes flowed past her she lifted her violin and nestled it under her chin. With a gentle sway she was off, joining in the chorus about her as she echoed Soren's earlier notes but in a higher, brighter tone. The two played off one another, fading in and out to create a harmonious completeness with their song. Here Soren took the lead, charging forth and proudly placing his mark. There Asuka slid through the veil to enchant the listeners.

As the first movement barreled through to a vigorous finality the audience found itself completely enraptured by the motions of this little girl keeping pace, no, leading one of the greatest musicians alive. The depths of her heart came pouring forth with even greater strength as the second movement of the Bach Double settled into a melodic, delicate, and even serene wave that swept through the hall. No one dared cough, move, and some almost dared not breathe lest they disturb this singular moment. Then it passed and the two violinists burst forth into the last movement and swept the audience along with them with all the force and will behind each note they struck.

Once again it was those closest to the stage that could truly see the vigor of the musicians, their fingers dancing about in precise movements, gentle taps and mighty leaps even as the hands shook to create that distinctive vibrating note. The bows raced back and forth, covering the entire length of hair to draw out as much sound with each stroke as possible all while never once going over the edge. And in that display of artistry, the eyes of both violinists were closed as they simply let the music guide their every motion. There was no waste, no hesitation, only the surety of purpose that came from sharing their souls with the world.

As the final note sounded, the audience rose in thunderous applause. Asuka opened her eyes, unshed tears already starting to muddle her sight. She looked about, instantly finding the man of her heart even so. Down in the first row stood Shinji, applauding just as wildly as those around him. But it was his smile that truly reached Asuka's heart and she smiled back, letting him know that his feelings had reached her and that she was ready to return them.

* * *

Asuka slept soundly and was not even clutching onto Shinji as she did so. The boy was grateful for that for a variety of reasons, not least because it meant if he needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night he did not have to pry the redhead off of him to do so. As it was it was almost morning anyway and Shinji sat up, feeling relatively rested. He stayed by the girl's side however to make sure that when Asuka woke up it would not be to a sensation of nothingness. Like the one and only time he had left her alone for an extended period of time, it only took one instance of Asuka waking up screaming to keep Shinji from repeating that mistake again. The boy looked down at the sleeping girl and smiled, stroking her hair. She looked, beautiful. Like a goddess.

"Mmm," Asuka murmured as her eyes obeyed. "Shinji?"

Shinji took her hand. "I'm right here."

Asuka snuggled against his thigh. "Warm."

Shinji chuckled. "You can't sleep forever Asuka."

Asuka opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling. "I know. But, I'm just so tired."

The boy regarded his girlfriend seriously. "It's your choice, Asuka. I want you to be happy, but I also want to be there for you. Whatever you choose, I'll support you to the best of my ability."

Asuka snorted but rose up to lean against the boy. "You know me too well."

"That's because we're so alike," Shinji said. "Maybe we've always been looking for each other."

The girl chuckled. "Maybe we have. But we've got each other now."

"That's right," Shinji said, wrapping an arm around the girl. "Now, what do you want for breakfast?"

Asuka chuckled dryly. She could not even taste anything at this point but Shinji still insisted on making her whatever she wanted. It was a touching gesture and Asuka made sure not to abuse the boy's compassion.

"Just some scrambled eggs and sausages with toast," Asuka said.

"Alright, I'll be back before you know it," Shinji said, climbing out of the bed.

As he freshened up Asuka curled up into a ball. It was frightening not being able to touch anything. What people took for granted, the extending of an arm to pick up something, the step by step of walking, all of that Asuka now had trouble doing. She was relying purely on muscle memory but without the tactile feedback, the feeling of her hands wrapping around something, the pressure when her feet met the ground, she could not be certain she actually held something and could pull or arm back or whether she was balanced on the ground and could lift up her other foot. It felt as if she was locked in inside her body, a sensation that creeped Asuka out to no end.

The door opened and a brunette wearing a lab coat several sizes too large for her that brushed against the floor waltzed in.

"Good morning princess," Mari greeted cheerfully.

Shinji sighed wearily but otherwise made no comment. Mari plopped down on the seat next to the bed and swung her legs back and forth.

"Don't worry pup, I'll keep her company while you get breakfast ready," Mari said with a grin.

"Umm, then I'll be back in a bit," Shinji said, giving Asuka a parting smile.

The redhead returned it even as she allowed Mari to intertwine their fingers. Ultimately when you got down to it the two girls did consider each other friends. Rivals to be sure, but also friends. If Mari had been the one caught by Arael's attack and become locked in Asuka would have not hesitated to help comfort her. Though perhaps she might not have been as enthusiastic about the skinship. The British girl was a bit more touchy feely than Asuka felt comfortable with at times in the past.

"You know, you're pretty lucky," Mari said as she continued to gaze at the closed door. "Pup really cares about you. And he's not afraid to let you know that."

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "What brought this about?"

"Well, just want to make sure you properly appreciate him," Mari said, flashing a grin. "You two've been through a lot. When it's all over, I just want to make sure you two are happy together."

Asuka frowned. This was quite unlike her friend, though if she were completely honest Mari did have a sentimental streak. But the brunette rarely voiced her thoughts when it came to human relations, instead preferring to joke and tease whenever the topic arose. Perhaps that was simply her way of coping with her own demons, whatever they might be. Despite it all Asuka was somewhat ashamed that she ultimately did not know Mari as well as she should have seeing as they basically grew up together. But there was still time to change that.

"What about yourself?" Asuka asked. "Aren't you going to start looking for your own Prince Charming?"

Mari blinked as if taken aback by the suggestion before chuckling. "I'd rather think of myself as the Prince Charming, princess."

Asuka stared at the girl before snorting. "Not funny Mari."

The brunette's smile flattened. "Sorry. But you know, finding someone that can make you happy and that wants to make you happy isn't easy. Maybe someone will come along, or maybe they won't. I'm still only 14 after all, so I've got plenty of time to look."

"True enough I suppose," Asuka said. "Maybe I just got really lucky that I met Shinji already."

"A guy who'll wait you hand and foot?" Mari said with a renewed grin. "You better believe it."

Asuka giggled at the thought. Shinji really did seem to go out of his way to make her comfortable. It was nice, though she needed to make sure not to overdo it. She wanted an equal, not a servant.

The klaxons began blaring, chopping off any further thoughts. Asuka and Mari looked up instinctively.

"An Angel," Mari muttered.

Asuka grimaced. She then edged carefully off the bed.

"Mari, help me get down to the locker rooms."

The other girl frowned. "You sure you're-"

"Don't even finish that," Asuka said. "We're down to three EVAs and I'm still the best pilot we've got. If they need be, I _will_ be there."

Mari nodded. "Alright then Asuka." The girl stood and extended a hand. "Grab on."

End of Chapter 40

Madison Ingrid Metz. Mari Illustrious Makinami. Amanda Sommer. You guys sure she's Asuka Langley Soryu? Ahem. Anyway, the speculations will be ending next chapter with the big reveal. The story summary will also get updated again since once I reveal who Amanda is I can put up a better summary without spoiling things that have not been published yet.

I recall a while ago that a few readers wondered whether things were going too well for the sidesteppers and for the pilots. Seeing as this is not even the worst I'll be putting the kids through, uh, yeah. Anyway, next chapter a lot of readers' 'wishes' so to speak will be coming true. But as the saying goes, be careful of what you wish for.

Let's see, one chapter to deal with Armisael and its aftermath, probably another chapter to deal with Kaworu, and then we go into the end game. If I ever do a remastered version of this story, I'll almost certainly expand the whole Kaworu/Maria interplay with actual scenes instead of just inferring it. Right now however I'm getting burned out and need to wrap up _In Tune_ before I start getting sick of writing it. We've come this far, I'm pretty sure all of you would want to shoot me if I left the ending hanging.

I suppose the good news is that one chapter of the endgame is basically already written, though depending on pacing its various parts will almost certainly end up split across two chapters. Seeing as it's almost 9k words in its present form and still missing two or three scenes, yeah.

Anyway, back to _A Cold Calculus_. To be frank I'm almost relieved that _In Tune_ is almost done. Working on two fics both with this kind of depth has been exhausting to say the least.

Feedback, as always, is welcome.


	42. Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Offenbarung

"Status," Misato said without preamble as she slid into her seat.

Madison did not even glance up at the other woman as she responded. "We detected a pattern blue AT-field three minutes ago in Tokyo-3 airspace. Regimental forces are moving to establish a perimeter and Unit 04 is prepping for deployment."

"And the other EVAs?" Misato asked.

"Unit 01 and 02 were scheduled for tests today," Madison reminded Misato. "We're moving them back out but it'll take a bit of time. The Mark 06 is currently on standby."

Misato frowned. Why was it that the colonel was so reluctant to deploy the Mark 06 and yet still willing to send Shinji and even Asuka out there? What was so special about it? Did Madison know something that not even Soren did, or were her friends keeping something else from her? As Misato pondered this Amanda stepped up next to her.

"Where's Fuyutsuki?" the German woman asked.

Misato frowned. Now that she mentioned it the elderly vice-commander was nowhere in sight, an oddity indeed considering his sense of diligence. Seeing that her friend was equally clueless Amanda pulled out her cell and quickly punched in a number.

"Soren, Fuyutsuki's missing. Find him."

"Are you actually worried he's up to something?" Misato asked as Amanda closed her phone.

"Fuyutsuki? No. Ikari? Yes. The ex-commander is liable to try and solicit his help, or perhaps even invite him along due to some twisted sense of loyalty."

"That seems, a tad unlikely," Misato remarked.

"Our job is to account for every eventuality we can think of," Amanda replied.

Misato looked out at the projection of the Angel, a shining halo just hanging in the air. "And what eventuality are you trying to account for by holding back the Mark 06?"

Amanda blinked. "Huh?"

Misato gave her friend a pointed look. "Colonel Metz is preparing to deploy all of our EVAs, even Unit 02, but the Mark 06 is still explicitly on standby. Why is that?"

This time the German woman frowned. But Amanda did not deny it. Instead she moved closer to Misato.

"You're right that we don't want to deploy the Mark 06," Amanda said softly, "but the reluctance is because we're pretty sure that it and its pilot are two of SEELE's trumps. I mentioned that the Mark 06 is designed to basically absorb an Angel?"

Misato nodded ever so slightly.

"Well, what might happen if it absorbed a specific Angel?"

That elicited a frown. "Lilith?"

"The Mark 06 possesses a S2 organ, the fruit of life," Amanda continued. "Should it complement itself with the fruit of knowledge then SEELE would have all the pieces it needs to initiate Instrumentality. And what better opportunity to breach Terminal Dogma than after a battle with an Angel, when all of the other pilots are exhausted or potentially out of commission entirely?"

"So then why didn't Nagisa break into Terminal Dogma after he first arrived?" Misato asked.

"Because there were still Angels left to kill," Amanda said as she gazed at the projection. "Instrumentality in its initial stages can be interrupted with enough power, power that the Angels possess by virtue of their S2 organs."

"So you think he'll make his move after the last Angel is defeated?" Misato asked.

"Very likely," Amanda replied. "It's why we have a kill team standing by to take him out."

Misato frowned. "That seems extremely ruthless."

"Do not confuse Nagisa with our kids, Misato," Amanda warned. "There is very little about him that was not molded by SEELE to fulfill their purpose."

"Just like we tried to mold Asuka, Mari, and Shinji?" Misato countered.

Amanda's eyes flickered for a brief moment, something not lost upon Misato.

"I have never denied that some of the things I have done are as equally monstrous as my grandfather's sins," Amanda said. "If there is something that I am not guilty of however, it is the abuse of actual children."

The colonel regarded her friend. "Are you saying Nagisa is not a, child?"

"I would say that he is not even human," Amanda said.

Before Misato could press the point the blaring of a horn alerted her to the deployment of Unit 04 on the surface.

"Lieutenant, engage the Angel at range," Madison ordered.

"Roger," Maria replied as her EVA took hold of the assault rifle.

The silver EVA maneuvered itself behind a nearby hill, propping up its weapon to steady its aim. Madison nodded approvingly before issuing her next order.

"Fire!"

Unit 04 pulled the trigger and rounds more akin to the shells fired by tanks than bullets exploded from the rifle barrel. No one, not Maria, not the regimental soldiers, and certainly not the NERV command staff actually expected the attack to do any damage. This was a probing strike to get the Angel to use its AT-field so that they could gauge its strength. If it was weak enough the EVAs would never need to get near the thing and they could kill it with the positron cannon, assuming they could figure out where the damn thing's core was.

To the surprise of many the rounds struck the Angel's body directly, their explosive packages thundering upon impact. The Angel itself however remained unblemished.

"The, MAGI is not detecting an AT-field being manifested," Maya said in confusion. "But, this is an Angel, we are detecting a blue pattern."

"But where is its core?" Misato pondered.

"That is a very good question," Amanda said.

The spinning halo of a double helix was completely uniform in appearance with no bulge or blemish to indicate a potential weakness. Without knowing where the core was the Angel would be extremely difficult to kill. Thus far no Angel had been defeated by merely beating it into bloody pulp. Even Sandalphon only expired after its core shattered in Shinji's arms. None of the personnel in the command center wanted to dwell on the possibility of a repeat of such an event. As the humans pondered their next move however the Angel finally decided to mount its own response.

"We have a reaction!"Aoi cried out.

On the display Misato watched as the halo broke open and the spinning ring turned into one giant white strand.

"Stay alert," Madison said. "Keep your distance from the Angel, we don't know what it might be capable of."

"Yes ma'am."

"Status on the other EVAs?" Madison asked.

"Unit 01 is ready to go," Hyuga replied before seeming to hesitate. "And, so is Unit 02."

Madison narrowed her eyes. "Put me through to Asuka."

Hyuga punched in a command. "Channel open."

"Asuka, what's your status?" Madison asked, specifically refraining from explicitly asking how the girl was.

A soft, almost elated voice responded. "I can feel."

Eyes widened amongst the command staff and a sharp breath by Maya drew glances her way.

"Sikinami-san's sync rate," the woman said disbelievingly. "It's at 100%."

Madison looked back up at Misato. "General?"

The woman grimaced but there was only one call she could make. She only prayed that it would not come back to haunt her.

"Authorization to deploy Unit 02 granted."

Deep within Terminal Dogma Fuyutsuki looked about the massive chamber that harbored Lilith. He was standing on the deck of the frigate anchored in the LCL, though just how NERV managed to get an entire warship, even a tiny one, down into Terminal Dogma was one of the organization's many mysteries. It was perhaps even more impressive than the destroyer in the Geofront lake.

* * *

Fuyutsuki shook himself. Now was not the time for idle thoughts. The old man glanced over at the only other human down there, though from the looks of it Gendo Ikari might soon not qualify for that term. Pulsing veins were visible across his face and gave it an eerie, scarred appearance. Either Ikari was losing control of the Adams embryo he had implanted within himself or he was intentionally allowing it to consume him. Neither bode well for the man's state of mind.

"Ikari, what are you planning?" Fuyutsuki asked.

Gendo glanced at the older man with sharp, piercing eyes. The former commander had discarded his trademark glasses, likely not needing them anymore with his transformation.

"My options have been severely limited. Reimer and Sommer believe that I am neutralized by the loss of the Ayanami series. I however still have one recourse left to me, Unit 01."

Fuyutsuki frowned. "Your son would never cooperate with your plans, not with all that he has now."

"I do not require his cooperation, sensei," Gendo replied, "merely his reaction."

It took a few moments for Fuyutsuki to realize what the other man meant but when he did his eyes widened.

"You don't mean?"

Gendo did not meet his old teacher's eyes. Instead he gazed out at the giant white form of Lilith skewered against the cross.

* * *

Maria threw Unit 04 aside, just barely dodging another lashing out by the whip-like Angel. Armisael was incredibly agile and it was all she could do to avoid contact with it. Colonel Metz had been explicit about that and Maria's instincts told her the operations head had a really good reason to be. Asuka and Shinji were also on the field, taking potshots at the Angel as they continued to try to find where its core was. The end result was effectively a bizarre game of tag with the Angel alternating which EVA it tried to hit. In the process one very interesting fact was revealed about Armisael.

The Angel switched targets again, this time charging for Asuka. Despite the strength of the combined AT-field projected by Unit 02 and Leliel Armisael punched through effortlessly. Asuka had not been idle however and ducked aside. The girl did not even bother trying to swipe at the Angel with her prog knife, instead focusing on putting as much distance between herself and Armisael as possible before the Angel recovered.

"It's got some kind of anti AT-field," Maya said incredulously in the command center. "That's, unprecedented!"

"It's almost like it evolved to defeat other Angels," Ritsuko said.

"Any idea how we could defeat it instead?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko grimaced. "Its structure is, strange. It reminds me a bit of Ramiel in a way, which suggests its core is somewhere inside."

"Could this anti field be why it's not manifesting an AT-field?" Misato continued her questions.

"Possibly," Ritsuko said. "Regardless, the Angel's physical form is still incredibly robust."

"Robust enough to take a hit from the cannon?"

Ritsuko frowned. "Likely not, if we could actually hit it."

That indeed was a big if as the Angel zipped about.

"Contact!" Hyuga shouted. "It's managed to hit Unit 02!"

A cry of pain echoed over the radio.

"Asuka!"

"Shit," Amanda cursed.

"Status on Unit 02?" Madison queried.

"The, Angel seems to be trying to inject itself into the EVA!" Maya said. "It's pushing through Unit 02's arm!"

On the screen the red EVA could be seen grabbing hold of the Angel. Asuka had dropped her rifle and was instead slashing fruitlessly with her knife.

"Hang on Asuka!" Shinji cried.

"Shinji, lieutenant, hold position," Madison ordered.

"But!"

"Target positron cannon," Madison went on. "Asuka, keep the Angel still!"

As if in response Unit 02 slammed the Angel against the ground, placing it facing the cannon.

"10% power," Madison ordered, "target low enough to not catch Unit 02 in the firing radius!"

"Aye ma'am!"

The hum of the cannon rose in pitch until it was a sharp screech. A bright lance stormed forth, cutting through the air effortlessly before enveloping the tail end of the Angel's form. Armisael's scream pierced the Geofront and even swept through the command center, resulting in the men and women manning the stations to clap hands over their ears. When the cry faded they saw a charred stump with a thing red circle in the center.

"Is that?" Misato began.

"The core is spread through its entire body," Amanda annunciated their shared conclusion.

"Shit," Madison reacted for all of them. "Asuka, get that Angel off of you!"

"I'm trying!" Asuka cried back. "Bastard's not letting go!"

"Shinji, lieutenant, we're deploying positron cannons," Madison ordered, "grab them." She turned to Ritsuko. "Extent of infection?"

"Unit 02 seems to have managed to stall it in the arm," the doctor answered. "It's likely that Leliel's presence has something to do with that."

"Asuka, once Shinji and Maria are ready we are going to purge Unit 02's arm," Madison said. "Get back as far as you can when that happens, we're going to overwhelm the Angel's body."

"What!? You're telling me to sacrifice my EVA's arm!?"

"It's that or sacrifice Unit 02 entirely," Madison countered. "Do you copy?"

Asuka grit her teeth but responded nonetheless. "I copy."

The technical department had already finished prepping the positron cannons and they were racing along the tracks to the site of the battle. Shinji waited impatiently for the weapons to arrive even as he watched his girlfriend struggle to keep the Angel contained. The seconds seemed to crawl. And then the weapon lockers opened. Unit 01 reached out.

* * *

"Ikari, have you really thought this through?" Fuyutsuki heard himself ask. "Do you really think Yui would accept such extreme lengths simply so that you could reunite with her?"

"Whether she would or would not is irrelevant," Gendo replied flatly. "Anything short of meeting her to hear her judgment does not matter."

Fuyutsuki regarded Gendo with more than a slight sense of horror. True, deep down a part of him had enjoyed watching the younger man suffer. Why had Yui chosen him to offer herself to? What had Gendo Rokubungi done to win her affection? The man was in some ways quite brilliant but Fuyutsuki did not consider himself a lesser intellectual. At the same time it was quite clear that the loss of his wife had effectively driven the older Ikari insane seeing as what he was prepared to do to his own son. Yui's son. Fuyutsuki felt his chest tighten. He had promised her. Was it still too late to keep that promise? Fuyutsuki took a step toward Gendo.

"You cannot do this, Ikari."

Gendo looked at Fuyutsuki. "Sensei?"

"This is not what Yui would have wanted," Fuyutsuki continued. "Shinji is her son. He is your son. Are you going to turn into the very thing you feard so much, a man incapable of doing anything save hurting those he loves?"

Gendo's face twisted into a scowl. "I am already that man, sensei. The only place where I can not be that man is by Yui's side."

"And so you take the coward's way out?" Fuyutsuki demanded.

Gendo said nothing for a second, instead gazing down at the switch in his hands. The eyes that finally looked back up at Fuyutsuki were empty however.

"You have been at my side all this time, sensei. For that you have my thanks."

Gendo's arm raised and Fuyutsuki had but a moment to recognize the revolver it held before a loud bang rang out. A numbness began spreading from his chest and as Fuyutsuki looked down he saw a damp redness spread out. He reached up to touch it but his knees buckled and the old man toppled over. The last thing Fuyutsuki saw before his vision faded entirely was Gendo looking at his other hand. The man pressed the button.

* * *

It was unlikely that Asuka even realized what was happening. The girl was focused entirely on containing the Angel, restraining it as it flailed about. Ultimately that lack of awareness might be considered a mercy, though no one immediately witnessing the event would care to call it such. As it was they only realized something was wrong as Unit 02 began lighting up. By then however it was too late.

Asuka blinked as an overwhelming brightness overwhelmed her sight. "Huh?"

A blinding light consumed Unit 02 and the next moment a massive shockwave slammed into the approaching EVAs. Unit 02 had self-destructed.

"ASUKA!"

In concert with Shinji's scream Unit 01 howled, the very air crackling with the force of its roar.

"ASUKA!" Misato screamed.

The girl flayed about inside her entry plug as the liquid seemed to instantly evaporate, turning into a superheated gas. Her screams of pain were lost in the hissing steam. Despite it all in the back of her mind Asuka thought she heard something.

_The strong protect the weak.__But the weak can also protect the strong._

And then the girl blacked out as a dim light enveloped her.

Suddenly Amanda spasmed, collapsing onto Misato.

"What!? Amanda, get ahold of yourself! Shit! This is not the time!"

Misato grabbed hold of her friend and immediately felt the woman's flesh seemingly give way.

"What the hell!?"

Suddenly one of Amanda's arms fell, thudding on the floor and spilling a puddle of orange liquid where it landed.

"Shit! Medical team to command deck now!" Misato shouted.

Amanda's remaining arm shot up and grabbed Misato's collar.

"Eject, him," Amanda gasped.

"What?"

"Eject Shinji!" the woman cried, somehow finding the strength.

The urgency behind the woman's words was evident as all present recalled what happened the last time the boy's loved one faced near-certain death. Maya frantically tapped at her console, issuing the necessary commands.

"It's no good!" Maya said. "The EVA's rejecting the command!"

Amanda's body shuddered again and this time it was her hair that seemed to whither away. No, not whither, it was twisting and reforming into a brilliant shade of red.

"Emergency override!" Amanda shouted. "102213!"

Maya punched in the numbers. Out on the battlefield the plate over the entry plug blew off and more charges detonated to catapult the tube out of the EVA. At the same moment Unit 01 staggered, the light dimming in its eyes. Its mouth opened once more as if it sought to roar but instead the EVA toppled, no longer driven to such extremes with its pilot absent.

"Amanda, hang in there!" Misato cried.

The woman looked up, her blue eyes meeting Misato's. Yet the woman that now looked up at the operations chief was not the German woman she had known all those years. Or rather, not the one she was expecting. Red shoulder length hair flared even as the brown strands that reached down her back disappeared. The resemblance was striking and the visage obvious, save for a set of freckles not present on either Amanda Sommer or the girl she seemed to resemble an older version of.

"Asuka?"

Amanda grimaced as her form lost cohesion and began reverting to her original image. Holding onto Asuka's score was taxing her well to her limits but the collective was kicking in and diverting energy to help stabilize the girl. It was close, Asuka was fading with every passing second even as the girl herself unconsciously clung tenuously to life. Yet the dimming of her light plateaued, her life shining ever so faintly but at least still shining. She was fighting, she was hanging on, she was living. And then an indescribable rage resonated throughout the entire collective. Shinji Rokubungi was on the move.

* * *

Gendo waited, letting his senses reach out beyond Terminal Dogma. At first he sensed the stirring of a great power, one that sought to tap into the despair of the soul it was intertwined with. Gendo felt hope rise within him. And then just as quickly that power disappeared, abruptly cut off before it could truly gather momentum. Hope crashed into despair as Gendo tried to figure out what had happened. Had SEELE added in more safeguards to prevent Unit 01's further ascension? Before he could think further on it however Gendo felt a force of will unlike anything he had experienced before intrude upon his senses. The maelstrom of rage and hatred was almost crushing in its intensity. It was also mixed with an all too familiar presence.

The frigate snapped in two and Gendo barely avoided being crushed in the process. He jumped up instinctively, putting distance between himself and the warship as it rolled over. Below the elder Ikari the LCL began swirling, slowly at first, before the liquid raged in a giant whirlpool. Amidst it all a sturdy form took shape, one that echoed the former commander in so many respects. The blue eyes that gazed up at him however were colder than anything Gendo had ever experienced before. And yet they remained eerily familiar.

"Shinji?"

* * *

"AT-field detected!" Maya screamed, the woman feeling nearly completely overwhelmed by the rapid chain of events going on about her.

Ritsuko had rushed up to the command dais to help her friend while the other operators were frantically coordinating the transfer of civilians from shelters compromised by Unit 02's destruction even as rescue teams were routed to the charred husk that was the EVA. The regiment had surged towards the EVA and the location where Shinji's entry plug had landed without even waiting for orders, not surprising seeing as the soldiers considered the pilots to be honorary members and would not sit idly by in such an hour of need. And now another wildcard had appeared.

"It's, down in Terminal Dogma!" Maya said frantically, not even aware that all attention was fixed on her. "I-this is, I'm detecting both pattern blue and orange!?"

Amanda hauled herself onto her feet, ignoring the stunned expression on Ritsuko's face as her arm seemingly regenerated and her features shifted back from that of a certain redhead, albeit freckled, to that of the expected brunette.

"Madison, get kill teams down there now!" Amanda shouted.

"Against that!?" Madison countered. "Are you serious princess!?"

As if to annunciate the point the command center actually shook.

Amanda scowled. "Goddamn it, he's going completely ballistic.

"Can't blame him," Madison said. "Right now we need to focus on Shinji and Asuka though."

Amanda reached out to the girl, feeling her life hang on ever so tenaciously. With the collective bolstering her she would survive until the regiment pried her out.

"Ritsuko, get ready to receive Asuka," Amanda ordered.

"But, what is going on!?"

"Later," Amanda snapped as she straightened. "I'll explain later, but right now we need to keep Asuka alive."

Ritsuko looked over at Misato and after a few moments the other woman nodded. With a reluctant glance the doctor hurried down to the medical wing. Misato turned to Amanda.

"Asuka's alive?" she asked.

"Barely," Amanda said. "We need to hurry."

Misato stared at her friend. "And what about you?"

"I'll keep," Amanda said, then grimaced as the command center shook again. "Assuming the baka doesn't bring down the entire Geofront."

Misato's eyes narrowed. "You're, Asuka?"

Amanda regarded her friend very carefully. "I promise, I'll explain once the present situation is resolved. Right now however we need to lock down everything."

Before Misato could say anything further however Hyuga cried out to them.

"General! Lieutenant Vincennes, she's, I think she's losing it!"

Misato's eyes widened. "Patch us through. Lieutenant, what is your status?"

A whimpering sound could be heard. "I-I'm the only one left. That means, no, grandpa wouldn't do that to me, right? I mean, there has to be another way, right? Colonel? Someone?"

Amanda hissed. "Eject the pilot."

Maya looked up at the woman in surprise.

"Lieutenant Vincennes is having a nervous breakdown in an EVA," Amanda said. "Eject her, before she ends up hurting herself or others."

That got through to the younger woman and she punched in the commands. Moments later the cover on Unit 04's back popped off and the entry plug went flying. Amanda sighed before looking down at Madison again.

"Where is Nagisa?"

"Still waiting in the locker rooms," the woman replied immediately.

"Go keep an eye on him," Amanda ordered. "If he tries anything, eliminate him."

Madison nodded grimly before departing.

"Amanda?" Misato said.

The room shook again, eliciting another growl from Amanda.

"Baka. You really are going to make me pull out all the stops, aren't you?"

Misato looked at her friend, not sure just what exactly she was muttering about. But if Amanda really was Asuka like she suspected, then that would mean Soren had to be Shinji. And if Soren was going on a rampage, it had to be in response to whatever caused Unit 02 to self-destruct. Misato grimaced. She hoped Soren would not be too quick about it.

* * *

Gendo coughed, a splatter of blood passing his lips in the process. One of his eyes was clouded by more blood while burns covered much of his form. An intense heat bathed him once more and it was all the man could do to hold back the torrent of plasma that tried to smother him. When the burning sensation passed Gendo's knees buckled and the man nearly toppled over outright. As it was he somehow managed to remain upright as he gazed at the steam shrouded figure unleashing hell upon him.

It had started out simple enough, the older looking Shinji unleashing a hail of bullets that Gendo's AT-field stopped without much difficulty. But then the boy, no, man, began superheating the air and liquid in the chamber to create bursts of plasma. Even though he managed to stop the plasma from directly hitting him, the residual heat was taking its toll. Gendo's lungs burned while his skin felt like it was being lashed by scalding water. And then Shinji had gotten in close and personal, pummeling Gendo's face after punching through the man's AT-field seemingly effortlessly. For the moment the younger man had drawn back and was aiming his pistol at Gendo again, that Glock18 the former commander had heard was wielded by a certain German man to deadly effect. In some ways it seemed entirely unsurprising that somehow Soren and Shinji were one and the same. How Gendo could not begin to guess and the elder Ikari doubted he would have the luxury of time to find out. It was also bitterly ironic that this Shinji was effectively beating him into a bloody pulp. Well he had wanted a reaction from his son, could he really complain about the one he was getting?

Gendo raised his hand, blocking more of the bullets Shinji showered upon him. The younger man ejected an empty clip even as he raised a larger handgun. Gendo did not recognize the model but did not back down. Stopping bullets required little effort whereas dealing with the superheated plasma was nearly impossible. If the man that appeared to be his son wanted to waste time venting with such futile weapons, Gendo was not going to-

A sharp pain shot through Gendo as the man's knee seemingly exploded. The man screamed in pain, his first audible reaction to the onslaught he had been subjected to. Gendo toppled, clutching the stump that used to be his knee. As he looked at the bloody mess a single thought managed to rise above the mind-numbing pain. How? It was just a bullet, how had it managed to blow through his AT-field? He had not sensed any attempt to erode it. A snapping sound caused Gendo to look up to see Shinji finishing reloading that strange large handgun. Gendo's eyes narrowed. The pain was receding somewhat and he could think just a bit more clearly. It was obvious he was going into shock and at this rate he was going to bleed out. That gun, somehow that gun was allowing Shinji to completely bypass his AT-field. Shinji raised the gun and aimed it once more.

Instinctively Gendo raised his hand to shield himself despite already knowing the futility of the act. The next moment Gendo found himself staring at a stump that used to be his right hand. It took a moment for the sighto to sink in and another for Gendo to realize just what this meant. Shinji had destroyed his hand and the Adams embryo that was embedded in it. Gendo could feel the Angelic cells spread throughout his body withering away, leaving behind a quickly rotting mesh of tendrils and veins. The inside of his body burned like no pain he had ever experienced before.

The sound of boots clicking reached Gendo as Shinji lowered himself down to the ground. The man had holstered the larger handgun, instead slapping a new clip into his Glock18. He promptly took aim and riddled Gendo's other knee with bullets. The older man howled in pain.

* * *

"We need to rein him in, now," Klinge stated.

"And what the hell do you expect me to do?" Amanda mentally shot back. "I'm busy, if you hadn't noticed, trying to keep Asuka from dying!"

That was certainly true enough, Amanda was focusing much of her energy on stabilizing Asuka. The girl's chances were improving with every passing moment but it was still touch and go. In fact had Leliel not reached out to protect Asuka before its own death the collective might well have been too late. Strange as it was they owed an Angel an immense debt of gratitude but until Asuka was in the medical wing there were still too many things that could go wrong.

"And Madison's keeping an eye on Nagisa to make sure he doesn't head down there to kick off Third Impact on his own," Amanda added.

"You three are tied down, but she isn't," Klinge replied.

Amanda grimaced. "That's risky."

"And Soren going ballistic and expending that much power just torturing Ikari isn't?"

The grimace deepened. "Alright, alright, I'll ask her to intervene. But we've got to keep this quick, we cannot risk her being harmed, she's our linchpin, remember?"

"I am well aware," Klinge assured the younger woman.

Gendo rasped for breath. He could barely see now and his remaining hand was a mangled mess after Shinji had smashed it with the heel of his boot. His back was likely broken though his spine was working well enough to still let him feel the pain from his shattered knees. Even so it was apparent that Shinji was not done. Gendo could not exactly blame his son for the extremity of his actions. As hypocritical as the man could be at times he was honest with himself to know that he had no one but himself to blame for all this. Still Gendo was human enough to hope that this would all end quickly, that the shock would finally take him off or that Shinji would grow bored of tormenting him and finish him off. As Shinji reloaded his pistol again it became clear that that was a forlorn hope.

The man suddenly jerked. Gendo blinked, not sure if his failing vision was lying to him or if he really was seeing what he was seeing. Shinji was still standing before him but the man was now impaled by what looked to be a large spear. Yet no blood seemed to have been spilled by the wound. And then a thin willowy figure stepped past Gendo. Both men looked over at the newcomer, each with wildly differing reactions. For Gendo it was confusion. The, girl, standing before him wore what looked to be a plugsuit of some kind, white with the undersuit a light blue. The flat expression on her face could easily have been mistaken for that of Ayanami except that her bobbed hair was of a deep azure instead of the pale blue. The eyes were a similar mismatch, an olive green instead of a piercing red. For Shinji his reaction was one of recognition. And irritation.

"What is this?" Shinji asked.

"You are violating the terms of our agreement," the girl said softly but clearly.

Gendo felt his heart, weary as it was from the punishment his body had taken, quicken at hearing that voice. There was no mistake.

"Yui?"

The girl however ignored him. Shinji did likewise even as he responded.

"The arrangement said I had the right to terminate my father."

"To terminate, not to waste energy torturing him," the girl said back calmly but coldly.

"Does it matter how I terminate him?" Shinji said, grinding his teeth.

"You waste energy in the process," the girl repeated, "energy of which we have a finite amount. Energy which will be needed to allow you to see _her_ again."

That seemed to get through to Shinji though a frustrated expression remained on his face.

"Fine," he said. "I'll stop wasting time and just shoot him. Would that be acceptable?"

The girl nodded. The spear impaling Shinji disappeared and he was once more standing on his own two feet. A moment later the girl too began fading. Gendo tried to rise

"Wait!" he rasped.

His plea went unheeded as the mysterious girl disappeared.

"Ichijo Yui," Shinji said, causing Gendo to look up at him instead. "She's not the Yui you've been looking for. Or the Ayanami that I'm looking for."

Gendo blinked in confusion. His mind was growing hazy as his body began failing outright. He struggled to make sense of Shinji's words but his consciousness was fading too quickly.

"You know, I can't say I ever really hated you," Shinji said as he fiddled with the Glock. "Find you pathetic for how you became a broken man after mother left us, yes. Resent you for your failure to act as father, certainly. But personally hate you? I doubt it ever occurred to him that you would be worth the effort of hating." The gun was leveled at Gendo's head. "Even now, after what you did to Asuka, I can't say that I hate you personally. After all, how can one hate a shell of a man? I consider what I'm about to do an act of mercy. You can't live without mother by your side and in our scenario the possibility of a reunion simply does not exist."

Gendo's mouth opened as he tried to say something but only a gasp escaped the man.

"Goodbye father," Shinji said.

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

"What's Asuka's status?"

In some ways it was amazing that Misato had the breath to actually ask the question seeing as both her and Amanda were running flat out down to the medical wing.

"Not good," Amand said in between pants. "She's hanging on, but barely."

Men and women slid or even jumped aside so as not to get in the way of the two women and even the soldiers manning the checkpoints into the medical wing only gave them cursory one overs before swiping their IDs and waving them through. Under other circumstances Amanda might have remarked on such relative laxity. Right now she was willing to give them a pass.

The two emerged not too longer into the observation room overlooking the treatment ward. Down inside Ritsuko was manning the robotic system that was scanning Asuka and trying to determine the full extent of the girl's wounds. Misato knew just enough about the equipment to know that the huge swathes of red projected against the girl's form was not a good thing. Amanda's grimace was however even more telling.

"Asuka's fading," the brunette said over the mental link. "The medical equipment can't stabilize her quickly enough and we're starting to fray her chord with how tightly we're trying to hang on. I need to execute Terminus, now."

"You can't," Klinge stated.

"Goddamn it if I don't we'll lose her! What do you think that's going to do to Shinji!? To this entire score!"

"Listen to me," Klinge said. "_You_ cannot execute Terminus, we still need you to fob off SEELE at least two more times. Having you suddenly up and disappear would arouse their suspicion and if they start rearranging their plans ours will get completely screwed. You _cannot_ execute Terminus."

"There's no other choice," Amanda spat back. "I'm the only one that can do this for Asuka and-"

"Actually, you're not," a third voice cut through.

Amanda twitched, both mentally and physically, at hearing the voice. In her mind a projection of one Madison Ingrid Metz stepped forth. The other woman cracked a strained smile.

"Asuka Langley Shikinami, remember? You and Asuka resonate, a lot, but you're Asuka Soryu. Asuka Soryu, not even Asuka Langley Soryu. Whereas I am Madison Ingrid Metz. And who has greater synchronicity with Asuka Langley Shikinami than myself? Wasn't that one of the reasons you brought me on board?"

Amanda spent what felt like an eternity staring at Madison. In reality it was perhaps only a second or so but they felt far longer than that.

"If you do this, Mari won't have a backstop," she finally said. "None of us are able to synchronize with her, period."

"I know," Madison said, her face becoming completely serious. "But we cannot lose you at this juncture, too many things depend on you getting SEELE to dance to our tune for just a bit longer. Whereas I, and Mari by extension, are expendable, and we know this. We were brought in to act as buffers after all."

Amanda scowled and looked away. "You don't have to put it that way."

"Maybe not," Madison said, smiling gently at the other woman. "Don't worry, we don't resent it. Hell, you've given us a chance we would have never had! It's time I live up to my half of the bargain."

This time Amanda did regard Madison for a long time but the woman knew there were no other options. She finally nodded.

"Do it."

"Yo Soren," Madison called out mentally. "You back with us?"

This time it was a projection of her husband that appeared. There was no trace of the berserk rage that had been driving the man earlier.

"I am recomposed," he stated simply.

"Get up here and watch Nagisa for me," Madison said.

"On my way," Soren said before withdrawing.

Amanda's gaze never left the other woman. "Madison."

The woman in question looked over.

"Thank you."

That playful smirk appeared again. "You're welcome, princess."

* * *

The door into the treatment ward slid open causing Ritsuko to look up in irritation. She did not need any distractions right now, especially with just how badly wounded Asuka was. The girl's vitals were weakening and the treatment system just could not keep up. There was simply too much internal trauma. Yet she could not give up, not just because Asuka was a pilot, that was a moot point with the destruction of her EVA, but because the German girl was a person. The concept was still more than a little foreign to Ritsuko, finding worth in a person just because, but she was growing more and more comfortable with it. Thus she refused to write Asuka off just because she was fighting a losing battle. Amanda and Misato, the two friends who had kept faith in her for so long, would never forgive her if she did.

It was thus with some surprise that Ritsuko saw that those two same friends were the ones intruding upon the ward. Colonel Metz was also with them and all three had grim looks on their faces.

"Ritsuko," Amanda said, "please step back from the console."

Ritsuko blinked. She could not have heard what she just did. "What are you-"

"Please, trust us," Amanda said gently but firmly.

The doctor frowned and glanced over at Misato. The other woman nodded. Ritsuko took a deep breath and forced herself to obey. It felt like she was abandoning Asuka but it was obvious her friends had something up their sleeve. Perhaps some emergency program concoted by SEELE that she knew nothing about?

Amanda walked over to the terminal and issued a series of commands. The screen over the observation windows were lowered and Ritsuko was pretty sure the other security systems were blacked out. And then the cover over the treatment pod hissed and slid open.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Ritsuko screamed.

Amanda raised a hand and Ritsuko found herself staring at the woman's palm.

"Just wait," Amanda said, "and watch."

Ritsuko looked over at the girl, her chest rising and falling as Asuka's lungs struggled to work even with the oxygen being pumped into her by the respirator. And then Madison approached the girl. The woman was no longer wearing her glasses. In fact as she shrugged off the labcoat Ritsuko found herself flushing slightly as she saw that the colonel was not wearing, anything. But the doctor did not look away, instead keeping her gaze fixed on Madison and Asuka.

Madison ignored the others as she began synchronizing with Asuka. Her body twitched as it began developing sympathetic wounds mirroring the trauma inflicted upon the girl yet she remained standing, the rest of the collective helping her overcome the pain. She closed her eyes, feeling her mind and Asuka's start following parallel thoughts. Madison tasted Asuka's fiery passion, the girl caught a glimpse of the colonel's joyeous appreciation of life. Asuka felt Madison's playful affection, the woman felt the redhead's intense love for a certain boy. Their bodies began to glow in concert and the wounds that both now suffered slowly sealed themselves. Shattered bone knit, scarred tissue healed, Asuka's breathing eased into a more relaxed pace as the girl's lungs were no longer pressed down on by shattered ribs. Within a matter of moments the girl's form was restored to its prestine condition. The medical instruments monitoring Asuka began reporting a steady and strong heartbeat. Madison looked up at Amanda with a triumphant smile. And then the woman's form collapsed into a pool of orange liquid.

* * *

Something poked at Mari but the girl did her best to ignore it and remain in the blissful unconsciousness of sleep. The poking became harder and more pronounced and yet she still managed to avoid waking. Finally a sharp smack caused the girl to cry out in shock and shot up, banging her head against the frame above her bunk.

"Oooouh," the girl moaned.

"About time you woke up," a sharp voice chided her.

Mari looked over to meet the gaze of the singular blue eye. "That was uncalled for princess."

Asuka Langley Shikinami snorted as she climbed out of bed herself. "Then you should have been easier to wake up. C'mon, launch is in five hours and we need to start prepping."

"That means we have four more hours free, so come back to bed," Mari said with a grin as she reached out to embrace Asuka.

The brunette was rewarded with another bonk on the head.

"Itetetete," Mari said as she rubbed her head.

Asuka wordlessly got dressed, ignoring her moaning friend. Mari eventually stopped playing the victim and regarded the auburn haired girl.

"So. Looking forward to seeing puppy dog again?" she asked.

Asuka froze for a moment before sliding on her socks. "He'll probably still have that stupid, confused face that he always does. What's there to look forward to?"

Mari looked at Asuka gently. Fourteen years fighting a losing war against mankind's extinction would wear anyone down. Even the fiery Second Child felt the strain from time to time.

"Hey princess."

Asuka looked up just in time for Mari to plant a light kiss on her lips. The girl flushed but did not break off.

"For luck," Mari said with a grin as she pulled back.

Asuka looked away, muttering. "Aho."

Chuckling Mari started dressing herself. The operation to recover Unit 01 would be a success, this Mari was certain of, even if things did not entirely go to plan. But that was par the course for the fight against NERV. What really mattered was what happened afterward and while the collective had not been able to provide her with actual foreknowledge, the way timelines worked precluded that, she did have enough information that at the right moments she could intervene to try and nudge her home timeline along a better path. It would not be easy but nothing worth doing in life ever was. And maybe, just maybe she would be able to reunite her princess with her prince charming. That was what it meant to love someone after all, to want them to be happy regardless of whether you were the one making them happy.

"You coming?" Asuka called.

"Right behind you," Mari said, flashing her trademark smirk.

End of Chapter 41

Greetings from behind the Great Effing Firewall once again. Due to RL I ended up on a flight to China on very short notice. Internet in China is, spotty. Internal sites, great. External, latency is something short of acceptable. Assuming you can make a connection. It is absolutely hilarious how completely fucked up the connections are in some respects. Nothing that relies on google works, of course, and then there's the hit and miss with any international sites. I was trying to get to the DD-WRT site to get a firmware image for a router I brought over with me. Nope, no dice. Yeah, so, the Great Firewall can go to hell. Ahem. Ironically my having to suffer through this shitty internet might well be of benefit to all of you. I ended up writing about two thirds of chapter 42 while on the plane ride over. I finished off chapter 41 while at the airport waiting for my flight. I don't know how soon I'll actually get the next chapter out since I may end up working on _A Cold Calculus_ first instead of wrapping it up.

A few chapters back I had an apology appended to it to one of my readers that I accidentally left out after my rewrite of the chapter. At the time it might not have been clear just whom I was apologizing to and why I was apologizing. At this point I think the reader to whom that apology was directed towards will have figured the apology was directed at him and probably why. Technically there is as of yet no actual yuri pairings in my fic. By the end of this that, claim, will no longer be truthful, though I believe that the way I've structured things the relationship in question will make sense and not seem like some sort of fantasy fulfillment on my part. That tends to be one of the more blatant problems with poorly written/justified yuri pairings. As I said previously, my apology is more in that you may have felt somewhat misled. I do not apologize for the content itself.

The ending scene was partially inspired by a Japanese fan artist who has done a series of very well drawn Asuka/Mari shorts where the two interact in both somewhat humorous but also very serious scenes. They're set in the WILLE era and show a very touching relationship between the two girls. They're worksafe, by the way. The artist's line art is superb and the depictions of Mari and Asuka are very true to their canon character designs, no major stylizations or anything. The shading in the shorts are a bit bare but overall I'd say the artist is of the same caliber as the person who did RE-TAKE. Anyway, there was one short in particular that also had Shinji in it. It starts out with Asuka and Mari discussing making cake and Asuka smashing in Mari's face after the latter makes a joke Asuka did not appreciate. It then proceeds to Asuka taking Shinji up onto the deck of I believe the Wunder so that he could see the stars. It ends with her hugging him and wishing him happy birthday. Very touching all around. Whether the scene is meant to be something that happens in the actual Rebuild continuity and all is forgiven somehow between the pilots, or whether the artist means these shorts to be a divergence of some sort, I do not know, but I thought the overall concept was done well enough that I borrowed it for the ending of this chapter and the 'origin' so to speak of my Madison.

Now onto the topic the rest of you are probably wondering about. As I wrote this chapter I began to realize that I might not get to the actual in-story reveal this chapter due to length and pacing. Conversely I did promise to reveal some things this chapter around and I'm not going to go back on that promise. As such I will provide some more details on Amanda Sommer.

Who is she? A lot of you have speculated that she is Asuka, which is not wrong. The question has generally always been which Asuka. Most people got the hint that Amanda intentionally lacks a middle name which is designed to preclude the possibility of her being Asuka Langley something. And if she is not Asuka Langley Soryu/Shikinami then who is she? Asuka Soryu/Shikinami would be a possibility, but Gainax/Khara does not have an Asuka Shikinami in any of its materials and I was very explicit in stating that Amanda is not a derivation from a fanwork. Interestingly Gainax did have an Asuka Soryu, which some people guessed at, but I have seen no indications that any of those readers quite understood the ramifications of Amanda being Asuka Soryu. Or rather, I saw no indication that they knew who Asuka Soryu was, most seemed to simply assume that there was no distinction between Asuka Soryu and Asuka Langley Soryu, which is really wide of the mark.

During what I would term the earliest stages of Evangelion's development while Gainax was still hashing out the concept the original plan had been for a female protagonist, a redheaded, freckled half-German female protagonist that went by the name of Asuka Soryu. What notes that have been made public indicate that she was much less of a jerkass than Asuka in the anime and that she would eventually develop a very close relationship with her fellow pilot, one Yui Ichijo, aka proto-Rei. This prototype of course got significantly reworked into a story with a male protagonist and Asuka was recast as a love interest deconstruction. Records of the original Asuka do exist however, as does concept art of her and Yui Ichijo. Overall they serve as the basis for some very interesting what-if scenarios but since the prototype concepts were never actually developed, or at least no further notes have ever been publicized, a lot is up to interpretation. Amanda Sommer is my interpretation. That's all I'll say for now, more will get revealed in later chapters.

I think overall this chapter was decent. There are I feel a few rough spots but overall it does what I wanted it to achieve. And all of you finally know what Terminus entails and what being ejected from the score means. And why the sidesteppers treat it as a last resort thing. I'll leave it ambiguous as to whether Madison is from Rebuild or whether she's from a divergence of it thanks to her time as a sidestepper.

Asuka called Mari an idiot in Japanese after the kiss. As I've said in the past I normally don't use Japanese but Asuka calling certain people idiots is such a hallmark of the character that I felt it was worth breaking that rule this time.

I look forward to the, lively, conversation in response to Amanda's reveal. Or just the general cheering of Soren thoroughly wrecking Gendo.


	43. Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Zuflucht

Tokyo-3 was in chaos. The destruction of Unit 02 might have taken with it the Angels Leliel and Armisael but it had also wiped out a significant chunk of the city itself. NERV mobilized quickly and so housing was found for everyone made homeless by the destruction but there was still an undertone of resentment at what people perceived as the agency's failure. Then rumors began spreading, rumors that told of sabotage by parties that wanted NERV to fail, that desired the destruction of mankind by the Angels. And that were willing to murder an innocent girl that had put her life on the line to defend mankind. No one was quite sure who started the rumors but quite a few reports came in that the ones most active in spreading them were students from a particular middle school. Sentiment changed literally overnight and NERV was soon inundated with letters, cards, and flowers to the still nameless girl the public had latched onto as a near martyr.

The major international powers responded in more nuanced manners. The destruction of an EVA was after all no simple matter especially considering the immense costs involved in building and maintaining one. Yet strangely enough they too did send expressions of concern and inquiries about the condition of the pilot of Unit 02. From Germany came a pointed letter asking that NERV fully investigate and bring to justice whomever had so grievously wounded that nation's daughter. Several other European states sent more gently worded expressions of solidarity and concern for the girl. From America arrived a letter directly from President Franklin himself, who pointed out that despite her Germanic upbringing Asuka did hold American citizenship and thus the United States would be paying particular attention to the girl's condition. The president somehow managed to roll an expression of concern into a demand for vengeance, a testament of his eloquence and perhaps also his conviction.

At NERV the reactions of the men and women who served with the pilots were more immediate. They were the ones that saw firsthand the grief wracked pain on Shinji Ikari's face after all, the berserker fury of Mari Illustrious Makinami at seeing her friend so maimed, and the complete mental breakdown Maria Vincennes seemed to be suffering. Then there was the eerie silence of the operators that had been in the command center during the battle itself, men and women who refused to divulge what had happened in there. The tension in the base was running more than a bit high all things considered and that was not even counting the reactions of the regimental soldiers that had helped pull a grievously wounded Asuka out of her entry plug. Perhaps ironically the conditions were near perfect for the collective's end game. Having seen the cost the score was imposing for such serendipity however a too human regret was filling many of them. They had come too far however, all that was left was to finish this.

* * *

The office that Misato, Amanda, and Soren were in was not one officially assigned to any of them. In point of fact the room belonged to Dr. Hitom Hayashima, the base psychologist. Hayashima herself was not present however, instead spending a significant amount of time helping Shinji cope with his grief and anger. That was something Misato knew she herself should be doing, but first she needed some answers.

"Is there a reason why we're in Dr. Hayashima's office?" Might as well start off with a simple one.

"Hayashima's personal office is in a blind spot of MAGI's internal surveillance," Amanda replied before patting her briefcase. "We're also jamming every other potential eavesdropper that might try to physically get close."

"I, see," Misato said, frowning. "So, Hayashima is also one of you? Whoever you are?"

Amanda smiled wirily but nodded. "That's right."

"Alright, then onto the next question. Who, or what are you?"

Soren regarded his wife and after a brief moment Amanda nodded ever so slightly. The two's forms shimmered and suddenly Misato found herself in the presence of a German red-haired woman with freckles and a Japanese man that stared at her with familiar blue eyes.

"Shinji," Misato stated, then looked at the woman more uncertainly. "Asuka?"

The freckles twitched as Amanda smiled. "More or less. My real name certainly is Asuka, but I'm not your Asuka. Just as Shinji is not your Shinji."

Misato glanced at the man who returned her look levelly. There was no hesitation or doubt in those eyes. No, this was not her Shinji at all.

"So, what are you two then?" Misato asked. "Versions of my Shinji and Asuka from an alternate dimension?"

Amanda nodded. "And from a further point in time."

"Wow," Misato muttered. "Sliders and time travelers. Now all I need is an alien and an esper and I'll have hit a quadfecta. Or is that a superfecta?"

"Didn't know you gambled Misato," Amanda said playfully. "And sorry, we don't have any aliens or espers in our ranks. Although, there are the people we have up on the moon at Tabgha Base. And Soren here can pull all sorts of crazy stunts with his AT-field. Would those count?"

Misato groaned and massaged her head. "I'm sorry, I won't joke about this again. So just tell me straight what is going on here."

The smile disappeared from Amanda's face. "Alright. Then let's start with the basics. My name is Asuka Soryu. Not Asuka Langley Shikinami, not Asuka Langley Soryu, just Asuka Soryu. And this here is Shinji Rokubungi. Not Ikari, Rokubungi."

Misato frowned. "Is that, the former commander's original name?"

Soren nodded. "Circumstances in my own timeline were somewhat different. My father never took on his wife's name, but my mother never changed hers either. I was given my father's name."

The Japanese woman then looked at Amanda. "Alright, what about Soryu? And Langley for that matter."

"My mother conceived via artificial insemination," Amanda stated simply, "so while there was biologically a father there was not one relationally. As for the distinction between Soryu and Shikinami, to be frank that one's somewhat academic. But one pattern that has emerged is that the Shikinami variant tends to be, better adjusted, you could say."

Another frown. "Better adjusted?"

Amanda smiled wirily. "For now, let's just say there is a reason why the Asuka in this score is a Shikinami."

"Score?"

"Sorry, timeline. Anyway, onto point number two. You've heard of the grandfather paradox?"

Misato nodded.

"Well, it's basically a load of bull. Time is for all intents and purposes immutable, or at least the aspects of it that you or I might find useful. You can't go back and redo past events, you can't undo any mistakes you've made, because ultimately your very existence means those events must have happened."

"So wait, what happens if someone does try to interfere with the past?" Misato asked.

"Simplistically? They bounce and get reset from their original point of divergence."

"But an alternate timeline, one that you don't have any interaction with, you can interfere with?" Misato asked.

"Yes and no," Amanda said. "The problem is much as in quantum mechanics, by observing something you thus change its state. Because you learned something by observing it, you thus become, well, entangled, so to speak. Thus if you want to change a timeline it has to be after a point that you've actually observed."

"Huh. Does that mean you guys don't know what's going to happen in the future of this timeline?"

"We, cheated, sort of," Amanda said. "We've examined countless timelines to find what we refer to as resonance points that in combination usually lead to specific outcomes. Consider it data mining timelines so that we only need to extract a minimum of information to be able to make decent predictions without direct observation."

Soren snorted, eliciting a glare from Amanda and a curious look from Misato.

"What Soren is reminding me to tell you is that that's not the only way we're cheating," Amanda said, "but the other ways can wait until we fill you in on the more immediate concerns first."

Misato regarded her friend. "You, call him Soren."

Amanda smiled wirily but it was Soren that answered.

"Amanda and I are not from the same timeline. In point of fact I am the only one from my timeline."

Misato blinked. "Then? You and Asu-I mean, Amanda, you're, I mean-"

"Make no mistake, had I no affection for her this would have never worked," Soren said, "but the one I love is not Asuka Soryu."

Misato looked at Amanda who simply nodded.

"Conversely the person I love is not Shinji Rokubungi," Amanda said. "And I am also the only one present here from my timeline as well."

"I suppose that explains the freckles," Misato said, eliciting a chuckle from Amanda. "So, how many of, you people, are there?"

"We call ourselves the collective, and a lot," Amanda said with a slight smirk. "An exact number wouldn't mean much, but suffice it to say that there are enough of us to achieve our goal."

"And that goal would be?" Misato said softly.

"To ensure mankind's survival as a species, the first step of which is to prevent Instrumentality."

"Because all of you witnessed it in your own timelines," Misato said in a hushed tone.

Amanda nodded.

"And because you couldn't stop it there, you're here, to do the next best thing."

Another nod. Misato sucked in a deep breath.

"But, why?"

Amanda cocked her head aside. "Why what?"

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful," Misato said. "I mean, based on everything I've learned so far if your, collective, was not around SEELE would almost certainly succeed. But, what does stopping Instrumentality in my timeline do for all of you? I mean, I'd like to think that you two would do this just because it's the right thing, but I know you two too well to believe that. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not suggesting you two are so selfish you would only stop SEELE in my timeline if you got something out of it-"

Soren muttered something that Misato did not quite catch but the woman did not let that stop her.

"-but there has to be more."

The two Germans exchanged looks before Soren shrugged. The glare Amanda gave her husband made clear she did not consider his response helpful but she turned to Misato nonetheless and extended a hand. Misato looked at it in confusion.

"What?"

"We could spend hours here with me verbally explaining everything," Amanda said, "and you would still not have all the answers. It would be better if we showed you."

Misato tentatively reached out to take the offered hand. "We're not, going anywhere, are we?"

"No, I'm just going to synchronize with you so that you can peek into the collective's linked consciousness."

"I'm not going to end up seeing a bunch of kinky memories, right?" Misato joked.

"Only if you want to," Amanda said, closing her hand around Misato's without giving the other woman a chance to react.

One moment Misato was sitting in a cozy office in Central Dogma holding Amanda's hand. The next, she found herself floating in a sea of stars, holding Amanda's hand. Only this time Amanda was a freckled redhead instead of a brunette and Soren was a Japanese man with black hair and sharp blue eyes instead of a German man with the same. Her two friends were in what was technically their original albeit aged forms.

"What the hell!?"

"Relax," Amanda said, prying Misato's fingers open to get the woman to let her go. "This is all a mental projection, you're not going to float away or anything."

"Oh, okay, I think," Misato said uncertainly.

Soren chuckled and Misato glared at the man for finding amusement at her insecurity. His gaze remained unrepentant and Misato sighed.

"So, where are we?" she asked.

"This is within the collective's mental link," Amanda said, waving about. "It really can take any form we want it to and for me it's a starry sky."

Misato looked about. "Can the, others hear us?"

"Yes, we can," a new voice responded. A new, very familiar voice.

Misato's jaw dropped as a face she saw every morning staring back at her in the mirror appeared. The woman that manifested looked older, more weathered, but there was no mistaking who she was. She was Misato Katsuragi.

"Misato, allow me to introduce Generalmajor Margaret Klinge, head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst."

The colonel blinked. And blinked again.

"She's WHO!?"

The exclamation came only after the third blink.

"It would appear Misato did not consider that there would be an alternate timeline version of herself present," Soren said dryly.

Misato's mouth worked soundlessly before she gave up and shook herself. Klinge chuckled at the sight of her younger self trying to come to grips with the little bombshell.

"Don't worry," the general said, "it's not as complicated as it seems."

"Uh, I'll take your word for it," Misato said tiredly. "So, anyone else I know that you want to drop on me?"

"Just the Generalmajor for now," Amanda said. "And I thought it'd help to have a familiar face around when we start explaining the more complex aspects of our plan."

"She means she wants me around so that she can be lazy and not explain things in laymen terms," Klinge said.

Despite herself Misato snorted in amusement while Amanda gave a mock indignant huff.

"Anyway, let's get to business," Amanda said and suddenly the stars disappeared to be replaced by countless bright streams, some thicker and more luminescent than the others. "These, are the various timelines that compose the multiverse." The view shifted to a smaller stream, one that was branching off from a brighter one. "And this is your timeline."

Misato regarded it and the others about it. "It's not, very bright."

In point of fact the stream Amanda indicated was barely a twig compared to the massive trunk it branched off from.

"Indeed," Amanda agreed. "This timeline does not have much of a resonance compared to the prime scores. But do not let that fool you, the strength of a resonance is not necessarily indicative of a score's importance."

The view shifted again, this time taking them to a convergence of the trunk Misato's timeline branched off from and two others of equal girth. Interestingly however after the point of convergence there was only an extremely thin strand.

"This," Amanda indicated said strand, "is my score of origin. When it splintered due to Instrumentality, it created these three others."

Misato looked at the trio of massive pulsing streams. "How?"

"The how is irrelevant," Amanda said.

"We also don't know," Klinge chimed in.

The redhead cleared her throat, shifting the view back to Misato's timeline in the process.

"Anyway, as I was saying, a timeline's resonance is not the sole determinator for how important it is," Amanda went on. "We chose your timeline because it possessed conditions that would allow us to achieve our ultimate goal, the preservation of mankind as a species."

"You mean by stopping SEELE from initiating Instrumentality?" Misato asked.

Amanda regarded her friend. "Tell me, Misato, which would you consider the greater threat to humanity, SEELE or the Angels?"

Misato cocked her head aside. "Umm, well, that's kind of hard to say. I mean, the Angels represent a direct threat but they're damn powerful, more than once we very nearly lost and it would have only taken once for mankind to go extinct. SEELE's a more subtle threat though, they want to end mankind as we know it and from what you've told me their vision might as well be death seeing as it effectively represents eternal stagnation."

"So you would say that all things considered, the two are probably equal threats?" Amanda asked.

"I suppose if I really had to make the call, yes," Misato said with a nod.

"So seeing as there have already been two threats of equal magnitude to humanity, what's to say there won't be a third or a fourth?"

Misato frowned for a moment. Then she blanched.

"You-you mean there's something else out there?"

Amanda clapped her hands together before spreading her arms out. The view zoomed out and Misato could now see tens, hundreds, no, thousands of strands. They all split off at some point from the three big trunks that themselves split off from Amanda's home timeline.

"One of the advantages of being able to examine other timelines that we have no intention of changing is that we can look very far ahead," the redhaired woman said. "As a consequence we have seen some of the horrors lurking in the void beyond Sol and believe me, some of them make the Angels look like mere ants. As such defeating SEELE and the Angels only grants mankind a reprieve. We also needed to kickstart humanity's development once again so that when new threats emerge, it is strong enough to face and defeat them without getting driven back into the Stone Age."

"Oh hell," Misato groaned. "Are we ever going to catch a break?"

"As a species? Probably not," Klinge said. "You and the pilots? Well, once SEELE is completely defeated we project no further dangers that threaten extinction level events for at least another hundred years, so you guys will get to live out your lives in peace."

"A hundred years?" Misato latched onto. "Are you saying something's headed our way that could take us out in a hundred years?"

"By which time if we've done our job right, humanity will have successfully built up a very significant space presence and possess the means to repel the threat," Amanda took that one, "so don't get distracted by something you're never going to witness in the first place. Focus on the threats here and now."

"At the same time those threats are what motivates our actions," Klinge said. "While you do not need to worry about them right now, you will need to understand them."

The surroundings about the four shifted and they zoomed into one of the smaller strands.

"Score 11572," Amanda said. "A timeline where SEELE succeeded in initiating Instrumentality and the, linchpin, did not reject it."

They zoomed in further and suddenly a projection of Earth appeared. In the spot where Japan was supposed to be however was a massive white being, feminine in form and endowed with what looked to be massive wings. Cradled between her hands was a black sphere.

"What, is that?" Misato asked.

"The Complemented form of Lilith," Soren said, "with all the souls of humanity gathered in her Black Moon."

"A being of immense power," Amanda continued, "but ultimately not powerful enough."

Suddenly the Earth cracked and began breaking up into pieces. The white giant's form twisted and the black sphere seemed to start bleeding. It finally erupted into a pool of orangish liquid as Lilith's body fell apart.

"What happened!?" Misato exclaimed.

"An external threat, one from beyond Sol," Amanda said. "This happens a hundred twenty years after Instrumentality in this timeline. The container for all of mankind's souls is broken, thus destroying them. And thus is humanity wiped from existence in this score."

Misato stared at the two hemispheres of the shattered Earth in horror. "But, but how!?"

"For all Liith's power, once Instrumentality was achieved humanity stopped advancing," Soren said. "Our species became unable to adapt when faced with a new and unknown threat. And so we fell prey to this threat because it could adapt and grow to overcome our power."

"This happened in countless other scores," Amanda said. "As you can see, Instrumentality is no guarantee of mankind's survival. In fact it only serves to consign us to extinction."

"If humanity is to survive for the long term, it needed to remain capable of change and adaptation," Klinge said. "And so we considered alternatives."

The destroyed Earth disappeared as they zoomed back out, leaving the thin sliver of a strand. Amanda moved them to another timeline, this one much, much larger. It was still several orders of magnitude smaller than the three primary branches but at the same time it was also several orders of magnitude larger than many other strands, including Misato's own.

"Score 041," Amanda said, "nicknamed RE-TAKE within the collective. Notice the points of intersection with the other timelines?"

Misato nodded.

"Well, this one was very interesting," Amanda said. "What happened here is a Shinji and Asuka, and another entity, from entirely different scores intervened and managed to avert Third Impact. That probably sounds great and all, but the same problem ended up happening."

Once more they gazed upon an Earth though this one did not have a white giant looming over the surface. In fact the world looked almost completely normal. Even its seas were a clear blue, indicating that either humanity had succeeded in cleaning up the poisoning of the oceans caused by Second Impact or in this timeline said poisoning never happened. And then the blue pearl that was Earth turned crimson as the world was set aflame. Misato gasped as she watched the green and blue give way to a sickly brown before fading into a barren gray.

"What happened here?" she asked.

"Another threat, though this one much, much further into the future, consumes all biological material on Earth," Klinge said. "The NERV of this score succeeded in saving humanity from the stagnation and extinction promised by Instrumentality, but mankind was not prepared for the Great Hunger that ultimately ravaged the entire galaxy."

"My god," Misato whispered softly.

The dead world disappeared and Misato was not sorry to see it go.

"Not all scores end in humanity's extinction," Amanda said. "In fact quite a few make out pretty well."

The next strand was also extremely bright, though of a somewhat lesser luminosity than the one referred to as RE-TAKE.

"Score 3886999," Amanda said with a slight grimace. "Nicknamed W40K. In it humanity establishes an interstellar empire that lasts for countless millennia, defeating all challengers to its might."

"And that's a, bad thing?" Misato asked in light of the grimace.

"The, collateral damage that resulted from NERV's handling of the Angels in this score ran into the millions of fatalities," Klinge explained.

The colonel's eyes widened. "What!?"

"There were also long term ramifications to basically having the empire's founding be consecrated in so much blood," Soren said. "By the time the Imperium faces off against the Great Hunger, well, human society of that era makes the Nazis seem positively enlightened and tolerant."

Misato felt her stomach twist in disgust. "I, see why you might not want to adopt whatever that NERV did wholesale."

"While the methodology used to defeat the Angels there were not acceptable to us, we did learn many lessons from it," Amanda said. "Those lessons ultimately proved very useful when we set about composing this score."

And they were back to the tiny strand that was Misato's timeline.

"The predominant objective we have is to ensure humanity's long term survival," Amanda said. "At the same time we did not want to buy that survival at such a cost as to bankrupt humanity's sense of dignity, thus we worked to minimize collateral damage and casualties."

"We were not always successful," Soren stated, "our level of control over the scenario and the score is not perfect and things slipped past us. Or were hidden from us."

Misato caught the glance directed at her counterpart and wondered at just what had transpired. The others however did not elaborate as they pressed on.

"You are right that we are not doing this entirely out of the kindness of our hearts," Amanda said. "While we very firmly do believe that what we are doing is the right thing, we also are getting something out of this." Amanda turned to face Misato. "This score, this timeline, is intended to serve as a refuge for all of us."

"Uh, what?"

Amanda smiled slightly. "I've already shown you that Instrumentality will almost always end in humanity's extinction. And seeing as Instrumentality has happened in the timelines Soren and I come from, it's only a matter of time before the container holding our souls will be destroyed. When that happens we will all perish, unless we have someplace to go. We want to make this score that place, that refuge."

"But, how is that possible?" Misato blurted out.

"It's actually pretty straightforward," Amanda said. "While Instrumentality does not occur, the well of souls remains effectively walled off from the physical world and cannot be harmed. All human life comes from Guf and returns to it upon death. The experience of life strengths the collective humanity and is how we as a species advance. It's a slow process to be sure but contrary to SEELE's belief humanity does evolve, they just can't see it because of their own impatience. Funny that for their relative immortality.

"Anyway, Guf does not have an upper limit. Or if it does we are nowhere close to hitting it. So we could double, triple, quadruple, or even increase the, volume for the lack of a better word, of souls by a million times without any problem. Meaning when the exposed wells are destroyed in our timelines, we could divert all of the souls to the well of another timeline and save them. But the transplant would only make sense if the new well is one that would not then get destroyed shortly thereafter. And the well will only continue to exist so long as human life exists within the physical world. So wherever we go, we need to guarantee that not only does the humanity of that score not achieve Instrumentality, it also is able to stand up to all of the other threats in the universe and do so without going down a path of eventual self-destruction."

"And you couldn't find such a timeline, so all of you decided to create one yourselves," Misato finished for Amanda.

The redhead nodded and smiled. "That's right. This timeline will be our refuge, our sanctuary."

Misato looked over at Klinge. "And what about you, General? Has Instrumentality also happened in your timeline?"

"No," Klinge answered, surprising Misato. "At the same time risk of it has not gone away. We were, considerably less successful in neutralizing SEELE's assets in my score unfortunately. And even if we do finish the job we do not have the same guarantees and safeguards that have been built into this score and so may succumb to the long term threats Amanda has hinted at. If that happens then our Guf will also be destroyed and we will need a refuge."

"Here, in other words," Misato said.

Klinge nodded. "And just like those that will have come before this score will become our home, a home that we will fight to the last breath to protect."

Misato looked at the others before smiling herself. "I'd say all of you are already doing that. And I can't think of anyone else I'd rather having at my side."

Amanda returned the smile and extended her hand once more. This time Misato took it without hesitation.

* * *

Shinji was standing vigil over his girlfriend's comatose form once again. By some miracle, a miracle that he could scarcely believe, Asuka was not hurt. Physically at least. According to Dr. Akagi her wounds were completely healed and from the way the doctor spoke it seemed she could barely believe it either. But that did not matter. None of the unanswered questions about Asuka's recovery mattered. Only the recovery itself, the fact that the girl was completely unscathed physically, mattered to the boy. It was just a matter of waiting for her to wake up and Shinji refused to let her be alone when that happened.

The door slid open and Shinji looked up to see Misato enter.

"Misato-san."

The woman walked over and gave him a gentle hug. "Shinji-kun."

Shinji returned the embrace. "Asuka's gonna be alright. I just know it."

So did Misato and she had more than just simple faith in the girl behind that belief, but she could not tell her son that.

"I know Shinji-kun," Misato said instead, managing to sound completely sincere. "I know she will be, because she'll have you right there for her, and I'll be there for both of you."

"Thanks Misato-san."

As the two separated Misato knelt down so that their gazes were level. "Shinji-kun, we're going to be evacuating all civilians from Tokyo-3."

The boy flinched but nodded.

"Your friends, they wanted to say goodbye to you," she continued. "There's too many to fit in here, so do you think you'd be willing to go see them? They're in one of the bigger rooms just down the hall."

Shinji looked at Misato in surprise. Did he actually have that many friends? He recalled being on friendly terms with most of the class, but outright friends? But if they were reaching out to him like this, could he really say no? Shinji looked reluctantly at Asuka.

"I'll be right here Shinji-kun," Misato said, "and if Asuka wakes up I'll call you right back, I promise."

The boy nodded slowly before giving Misato a grateful smile. "Thanks, Misato-san. Umm, Mom."

Misato chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Misato-san is just fine, you don't need to force yourself to call me mom."

"But, you are my mom," Shinji said as he smiled shyly.

Misato felt her heart seemingly skip a beat at those words and she drew Shinji into another tight embrace. She had lost Kaji but she still had Shinji. And once all this was over, she would make damn sure that the family the two of them made up was as real as any other.

"Go see your friends," Misato said as she released the boy. "And remember, this isn't a goodbye. You'll see them again after we win."

Shinji nodded firmly and after giving Asuka's hand a squeeze made his way out. Misato settled down into the chair to wait. She had promised Shinji after all.

The boy had little difficulty finding which room his friends were gathered in what with the pair of regimental soldiers standing outside. The two saluted him as he approached and Shinji awkwardly returned the gesture. It still felt strange to him that he held some sort of military commission as an EVA pilot but that did not seem to matter to others. And to the men and women that had fought the Angels with him using mere mortal weapons, his rank of Second Lieutenant was more than real enough.

Shinji entered the room and found himself greeted by not just his classmates but also several teens he recalled seeing at the base. Other Trident pilot trainees. All of them seemed to brighten up at seeing him, something else Shinji felt a mild surprise at.

"Shin-man!" Toji greeted enthusiastically, clapping a hand over the other boy's shoulder. "It's damn good to see you."

Shinji smiled wirily. "Thanks Toji."

The jock retreated but was quickly back, this time pushing Hikari's wheelchair forth. Shinji quickly closed in to meet them halfway.

"Shinji-kun," Hikari said, extending left hand.

Shinji took it with both of his own and widened his eyes in surprise as the girl managed to pull him in for a hug with just one arm. He gladly returned the embrace though. Even if Hikari was not his girlfriend he appreciated the comfort that she wanted to offer him as a friend.

"Take care of Asuka for us, Shinji-kun."

"I will," Shinji promised the girl.

As Hikari let him go and withdrew Kensuke came up next and offered his own hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on hugging you," the boy said with a mischievous grin.

Shinji smiled back at him as he took the hand.

"I heard, you're actually a Second Lieutenant," Kensuke said. "You've really been holding out on us, Shinji."

Shinji chuckled. "Not really. I mean, the rank doesn't really mean anything outside of NERV."

"Oh, can you believe this guy?" Kensuke called out to the others and more than a few chuckles answered him. The boy looked at Shinji. "I know you can do it man."

"Thanks Kensuke."

Next up was Canon. The girl was blushing for some reason which was more than a little confusing to the boy. That confusion turned into surprise as suddenly Shinji was hugged for the second time since walking into the room. Choking sounds could be heard and Shinji was pretty sure he was one of the people making them. If anything Canon's face was even redder when she let him go.

"Don't misunderstand," she declared. "That was from Kirishima."

"Umm, I see," Shinji said awkwardly. "Uh, tell her, thanks. I think."

Canon's head bobbed up and down.

"And uh, I won't tell Asuka about it," the boy followed up.

The nodding became even more vigorous.

One by one the others all exchanged handshakes and a few words with the young man, the boys cheering him on and more than a few calling him a lucky bastard for hooking up with Asuka while the girls told him to take care, of both of them of course. By the time Shinji returned to the hospital ward his spirits were considerably lifted. Even as he sat down next to Asuka's bed a sense of hope still filled the boy. Hope that they would win. Hope that he and Asuka would be together for a very long time.

* * *

"So how's Maria doing?" Amanda asked as she walked down the hall with Hayashima.

"She's a complete wreck right now," Hayashima said. "She's been rambling on about how she's the only one left and that only she can be the sacrifice. And also about how she didn't want to be left behind and all alone."

"Not really a surprise," Amanda said. "I doubt the implications of Instrumentality requiring a sacrifice ever really sank in for the girl. She always assumed it would be someone else."

"But now she is the only pilot left piloting an Adam clone," Hayashima said with a nod. "From her perspective and based on what little she does know about Instrumentality, that would mean she's the only candidate left to sacrifice."

"And the thing of it is she's not wrong," Amanda said. "If we really were going along with SEELE's plans her grandfather would not hesitate to offer her up on a silver platter. They really are a bunch of nihilistic old bastards."

"Not much we can do except keep her under observation so that she does not end up hurting herself," Hayashima said. "Her worldview has already taken a tectonic shift with her being forced to acknowledge the possibility that she will not join humanity in Instrumentality, revealing the truth to her about our goals is more likely to mentally break her than reassure her."

"I'd feel more sympathy for the girl if she wasn't so callous about how ready she was to sacrifice Asuka or Mari before all this," Amanda said darkly. "As it is, making her confront her own mortality will probably do some good for her in the long run."

Hayashima nodded.

"Okay, that takes care of Maria, what about Mari?"

"Well enough," Hayashima said. "A bit sullen at losing Colonel Metz but she understands why she needed to conduct Terminus. She's actually been camping out in Asuka's room with Shinji."

"I suppose it's a good thing all of them are strengthening their bonds," Amanda said. "Mari would have eventually been separated from Madison just due to the completion of our plan, but it can't have been any more pleasant to have it happen sooner than expected."

"Mari said it felt like half of her is no longer there," Hayashima said, "that things feel much quieter without Colonel Metz's presence."

"I'll bet," Amanda said with a sigh. "Well, Mari is basically out of the line of fire now unless we screw things up. Speaking of which, I need to get down to the communications room."

"Are we expecting a decision from the committee?" Hayashima asked.

Amanda nodded. "At which point we'll know whether we can string things out a little longer or if we need to kick things off early and execute Nagisa ourselves."

"Then I wish us all the best of luck."

"We'll need it," Amanda agreed wholeheartedly. "And if we don't get enough, we'll just have to make our own."

The two women parted ways and Amanda took the elevator down into Terminal Dogma. Soren was already waiting for her outside the secured communications room, his usual immaculately dressed self. Amanda did not bother asking if he was ready and simply walked in. Soren was right on her heels.

The green room dimmed after Amanda took a seat and the two were surrounded once more by the black monoliths SEELE hid behind.

"The anointed time approaches," SEELE 01 said. "With the defeat of Armisael only one stands between us and Instrumentality."

"And yet our margin of error has been reduced once again," SEELE 04 said grumpily. "The loss of Unit 02 was not expected."

"But its loss does not preclude our ultimate victory," SEELE 07 said. "We have the Lance and its replicas, we have the EVA series, and we have Lilith. With Ikari finally removed from play, there is none left to challenge our birthright."

"And what of Tabris?" Amanda asked.

"Eliminate him," SEELE 01 ordered. "We have no further use of him and as the last Angel only he may yet impede our ascension."

Soren nodded. "Understood."

"Tabris is likely to suspect our betrayal," Amanda said. "This battle is likely to get ugly."

"Use whatever assets you require," SEELE 02 said. "After this they will have no further value."

"The both of you have done well this far," SEELE 01 declared, "shepherding our grand vision into being. Complete this last task and you will have saved humanity from itself."

Oh they were going to save mankind alright, but they were going to save it from the senile old men gathered around them. But there was no need to tell them that.

"I hear and obey, grandfather."

* * *

"I hear they dredged up Vice Commander Fuyutsuki's body from Terminal Dogma," Kayabuki remarked.

Misato looked at the woman, still having a little difficulty reconciling the perky girl she had helped rescue from the JSSDF with the no nonsense but perpetually late to file her paperwork, assuming she did them in the first place, colonel standing next to her. Then again maybe not considering the mischievous humor Kayabuki often displayed.

"They found a gunshot wound in his chest," Misato said in response. "Section-2 is pretty sure Ikari was the one who fired the shot."

"Kind of surprising he actually went so far as shooting his second in command, especially after how long they've been together," Kayabuki said. "Then again Fuyutsuki probably grew a conscience and didn't want to go along with Ikari attempting to murder Asuka just to get his son to go ballistic."

Misato pursed her lip. "Colonel, is, an alternate Vice Commander Fuyutsuki a member of this, collective?"

"Ah, well that would be telling," Kayabuki said with a grin. "I think I'd rather let your imagination run wild for a while."

Mischievous humor indeed, Misato mused, even as her imagination did work up all sorts of possibilities. In case of point, a letter she received from one Kavan Franklin, President of the United States of America. Amanda had informed her that the US would be providing significant reinforcements when the JSSDF attack came. Who better to stage manage all that than the US military's commander-in-chief? Yet if Franklin really was a member of the collective the amount of power they wielded was absolutely staggering. Even more frightening was the thought that all that power was still not enough to preemptively wipe out SEELE and they needed the council to let down their guard as Instrumentality began to have a shot at them.

"What about yourself?" Misato asked. "Care to tell me about your own timeline? Or should I just use my imagination there too?"

Kayabuki chuckled. "No, no need for you to guess there. And my timeline wasn't really very special. Well, I suppose it was special insomuch as it was Asuka that triggered Third Impact in mine instead of Shinji."

Misato blinked. "What?"

"Amanda's already told you that in most timelines Third Impact gets triggered due to Shinji's sense of isolation and despair, right?"

A nod.

"Well in mine Shinji wasn't alone, he had me. He and I ended up getting together after the Trident incident. Except that by taking Shinji for myself, Asuka ended up with no one being there for her." Kayabuki chuckled bitterly. "Of the many variations out there, the easiest way to create a stable scenario, and I use easy and stable loosely here, is to get Asuka and Shinji together. That's why Amanda and Soren put in so much effort to get your Shinji and Asuka together."

Misato frowned. Kayabuki however preempted her concern.

"No, they were not railroaded," the colonel said. "In simple truth, Shinji and Asuka are good for each other. And their love is genuine. We did not force either of them to like the other just for the sake of our scenario. Not that we didn't give nudges when we felt the two needed it."

"I see," Misato said, still a bit uncertain about this but for now willing to believe that the whole matchmaking thing was mostly of the benign form than some sort of forced arranged marriage. And then the other point behind Kayabuki's words hit her. "You love Shinji, but you were still willing to see him end up with Asuka in this timeline."

"Weeelllll," Kayabuki drawled, "I had some conditions. A big one was that even if Mana couldn't hook up with him, they would still get the chance to become good friends. And I got that, so I'm as happy as I can be all things considered."

Misato smiled at the other woman gently. "You're strong, Kayabuki-san."

"Aww, just call me Midori," the woman said with a grin. "And you outrank me now anyway, Brigadier-General Katsuragi."

Said general snorted. "I never expected to get handed _this_ job when I signed on with GEHIRN."

"Hmm yes, it's why I'm glad my role didn't require me to rise any higher than colonel. I mean, the paperwork that the pencil pushers think is needed to keep a regiment running? Sheesh, if there were still forests left we'd be leveling them on a daily basis."

Misato chuckled. "Apparently Soren's official excuse for not wanting the job is so that he doesn't want to deal with all the red tape."

"Which just shows that deep down he is one of the sanest men I know."

"Oh? And what about Major Kudo?" Misato said in a teasing tone.

This time it was Kayabuki's turn to snort. "He's hung on this long willingly following me. Can you really call him sane?"

"Umm, point. Well, I guess we'll be finding out just how sane he is now."

Kayabuki looked out at the assembled men and women of the regiment and nodded. Everyone was here, it was time to get the show on the road. The colonel stood and walked over to the center of the stage so that everyone could see her clearly.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the 597th," she said, "I have called you together because all of you will be asked to make a choice before this day is past. A choice on whether you believe I am deserving enough of your faith that you would follow me against our own countrymen once more."

The soldiers of the regiment were too disciplined to whisper amongst themselves but their nervousness was palpable. First thing she needed to do was to head that off.

"Before that however, I wanted to convey a very personal thanks for saving me."

Nervousness turned to confusion as the men and women before her tried to wrap their heads around what Kayabuki meant.

"All of you have known me since coming under my command as Kayabuki Midori. And that is indeed my name, my identity. But I also have another identity, I also have lived another life."

Kayabuki's form shimmered before solidifying as a distinctly different albeit very familiar person. Jaws dropped and recognition quickly swept through the ranks. After all, how could they not recognize the girl that they had nearly failed to save? An older Kirishima Mana smiled at all of them before bowing.

"Thank you for saving my younger self." She rose, the smile gone. "Today however, I must ask you to help me save all of humanity."

No one interrupted the woman as she laid out her plea, explained just why the regiment would soon be facing their former comrades in arms from the JSSDF, and what the true purpose of those sending the JSSDF was. Not everyone completely understood all the nuances but that did not matter. When Kirishima offered those who did not wish to participate in the coming battles the chance to leave, not one muscle twitched. Kirishima smiled brightly as she reverted back to Kayabuki Midori once more.

"597th," Kayabuki cried out with a salute. In one crisp motion the regiment returned the gesture. "Move out!"

* * *

Soren checked his pistols once again. The Glock18 that Kayabuki originally seized as evidence had finally been returned without the colonel bothering to reclaim the one she gave him as a replacement. Of course having an extra automatic pistol did not mean much when going up against an enemy with an AT-field. The Contender on the other hand was absolutely lethal, assuming it was loaded with the right ammo. At present however Soren only had two of the custom rounds left and there was no time for Klinge to have more manufactured and shipped over. Yui was right when she chided him, he had been wasting the power needed to end this. Then again he only needed the one shot. The question really was whether Nagisa would make this difficult. The boy did have an EVA under his control after all. Or rather a shackled Adams.

The Seventh Child officially resided on base and his attendance at school was irregular to say the least. Now with the city evacuated there was really not anywhere else for him to go, in theory. Nevertheless the MAGI was not detecting him within the Geofront. The sensors around the city, or rather those left, had however tracked him to the outskirts. Soren climbed into a Section-2 SUV and rolled out.

The drive was quiet, the city streets completely deserted. Without anyone in his way Soren had no fear of a poorer driver getting in his way or accidentally trying to merge into his path at the wrong time. And so the German man pushed the SUV to its limits, cruising along at nearly a hundred-sixty kilometers an hour. He felt the vehicle rise ever so slightly as he curved around a bend without letting any of the four wheels lift off the ground. He barely noticed the buildings zipping by, fading in and out as the car slowed or sped up as even Soren was forced to accommodate the laws of physics on particularly sharp turns. Throughout it all the man's focus was completely on the road, his awareness noting subconsciously all the potential obstacles before feeding them into his conscious decision making as he figured out how best to navigate around them. Soren lost himself in the feeling of the drive, in the grinding of the tires and the smooth flow of the vehicle. He could only think about the drive and nothing else, not the order to execute Kaworu Nagisa, not the deception that would prompt SEELE to send in the JSSDF, and certainly not about the last battle that would either guarantee humanity's survival or see it extinguished. The SUV screeched to a halt and Soren climbed. What greeted him was the sound of a piano. Soren pulled out the Contender.

Beethovan's Nineth, Fourth movement. Before the battle with Armisael Soren had actually been requested by the Tokyo Philharmonic to stay for one last concert to play that very symphony. It was something of a standing tradition for orchestras in Japan to play it at the end of every year, something dating back to the post-war reconstruction. As Kawory played Soren speechlessly worded the lyrics that accompanied the notes.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken Tochter aus Elysium.

Asuka. Oh how those words could be used to describe the girl that now lay unconscious in a hospital bed.

Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Mische seinen Jubel ein!

Yet his marriage was in truth a shame, his union with Amanda a lie because their true loves were not each other. But they did love each other, the resonances between all the scores ensuring that an attraction was always possible between Asuka and Shinji.

Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.

There was little joy in the life he had lived up till now, little peace. He was no hero, he was a monster and a murder, someone who enacted humanity's extinction for his own selfish desires and who would do it again without hesitation just for the chance to be with _her_ again. Perhaps that was why he could not hate Gendo Ikari, he knew all too well how similar they were.

Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muß er wohnen.

There was no heavenly savior beyond the stars, this Soren knew. Humanity would need to save itself.

The song ended and the last notes echoed in the stillness around the two.

"I suppose the old men have made their decision," Kaworu said as the last sounds faded.

Soren leveled the Contender at Kaworu.

"I see." Kaworu looked up but still did not face Soren. "I've heard about your capabilities, about how you were created. I have no delusions about being able to defeat you while trapped in this form. Something tells me that even with the Mark 06, I would only be delaying the inevitable. But do you mind answering a question for me before my execution?"

The German man kept his finger off the trigger but still ready to pull it at a moment's notice.

"Ask."

"Humanity, it struggles and destroys so much. All the life that has been sacrificed, the blood that soaks this world, shed because the most powerful of you decided that there is no further purpose to its current existence. You who have been gifted with free will, do you find it such a terrible burden?"

Soren regarded Kaworu. "How would you answer after you have felt the weight of centuries on your shoulders?"

Kaworu turned to face the man with a thoughtful expression. "Mortality, is your answer to the burden of free will?"

"My answer, yes, much as SEELE has decided that the lack of free will is the answer to the burden of immortality."

The boy's eyes widened before a smile appeared. "Humans. Will you ever cease to amaze?" He chuckled. "Well, I am answered. My only regret is that I will not be there to see whose answer is right."

"Leave that concern to the living," Soren said.

"One, last request," Kaworu said with a slight smile. "Please, pass on my regards to Maria. She has been a most, stimulating conversation partner."

Soren's eyes narrowed. His finger settled on the trigger.

* * *

"This, was unexpected," SEELE 01 stated.

"To think that Tabris would have such depths hidden from us," SEELE 05 remarked.

"Soren Reimer's sacrifice will not be forgotten," SEELE 02 said.

Amanda said nothing, her face devoid of any emotion. Not a day ago her husband had been standing here by her side receiving the council's latest order. Completion of that order was supposed to have paved the way for Instrumentality, the ascension of the human race. Soren was supposed to have been part of that ascension. Now he was but ash in the massive crater standing outside the city limits. He had not gone alone however, taking down the last Angel Tabris with him. But that did not change the fact that Soren would not be there to experience the bliss of Instrumentality with his wife. Jaded and numb to the sensations of life as SEELE was, even they could understand that Amanda's state of mind must be in absolute turmoil. With the end so near they had enough humanity left to fear whether that instability might yet jeopardize their scenario.

"We are ready," Amanda stated flatly. "Give the word and we shall begin."

That Amanda seemed still intent on carrying out Instrumentality was actually little comfort. Some visible form of grief would have been more reassuring especially with the magnitude of the woman's loss. But what choice did they have but to trust her? And in the end, was she not the granddaughter of Kiel Lorenz, the man who had set them on this path all those years ago?

"Very well," SEELE 01 said. "The EVA series will be mustered. Make ready to sortie Unit 04 upon their-"

A gunshot rang out and Amanda's head exploded into bloody fragments. Cries of shock filled the chamber as the council observed the scene of the German woman's body slumped over on the table.

"WHO DARES!?" Kiel roared.

From the shadows stepped forth another woman, Japanese with long purple tinted hair. As she came into view Misato Katsuragi lowered her pistol.

"Katsuragi!?" SEELE 02 exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"You shouldn't have killed Kaji," Misato said, her own voice filled with venom. "If you hadn't murdered him, he would have never sent me all of his records. I would have never found out what you bastards were up to until it was too late."

Deathly silence answered Misato as SEELE grappled with the woman's declaration.

"You sons of bitches took away the most important person in my life. Well I'm going to pay you all back, with interest. Instrumentality? You need Lilith to pull it off. You need the Spear. And you need the EVAs. Well, I'd like to see you try it after I blow your goddamn abominations to hell."

"You would not dare!" SEELE 04 cried.

Misato sneered. "Watch me."

The woman took aim at the communications node and emptied her clip. The projection of the communications room blinked out, taking with it Amanda's bloody corpse and the defiant woman that had slain her. SEELE's secure channels exploded in stunned outrage.

End of Chapter 42

Bloody hell, over nine thousand words for this chapter. Ahem.

The ending is a pretty transparent cliffhanger and if people have been paying attention the last few chapters what happened should not come as a surprise. What happens next should also not be a surprise.

In theory this chapter should answer a big chunk of the questions people have had about the collective and its goals. You all already knew that there were personal reasons for a lot of the sidesteppers, now you know what they are getting out of this as a whole. And what they mean by ensuring humanity's survival. As you can see, they think big. And long term.

So far I think the only major hole so to speak with how things have developed is Kaworu. I had intended for him to play a bigger role undermining Maria's self-confidence and conviction but I ultimately could not work out the scenes this iteration. It's another one of those things that I would remedy if I ever go back and fix up the story with a remaster. Such a remaster would not entail a rewrite, it would just be shifting things around and adding in scenes that got skipped or I literally forgot to insert because I ended up writing too fast and blew past the points where said scenes should have gone. In point of fact I had a draft of this chapter ready to go even before I finished the latest chapter of _A Cold Calculus_ but I sat on it to preserve the alternating publishing schedule. That and I had just published chapter 41. Sitting on it however gave me an opportunity to go back and rework the big reveal to be more satisfying. Which ended up inflating the word count by at least a thousand if not two thousand words.

There are of course still some unanswered questions and things that are open to speculation. Not everything is going to be laid out, some of the hints that I've dropped are intended to give you people things to imagine about. I consider the hallmark of good writing to be to get readers to think a bit. The important bits will ultimately see resolution but tangential things like how Asuka initiated Third Impact in Kayabuki's home score are just footnotes for you guys to mull over.

As I mentioned before I have a good chunk of the rest of the story drafted already. Specifically, I have the battle with the JSSDF more or less complete, it's the bits before and after that I still need to work on. This isn't really going to see me publish faster but it will make finishing the story somewhat less work for me.

Genuine feedback is, as always, welcome.


	44. Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Alea iacta est

Wilhelm Langley had not been sleeping well the past week or so. No one who was aware of the recent thawing of the man's relationship with his daughter could blame him. First came news about the aftermath of the battle against Arael, the Fifteenth Angel. The cost of victory for Asuka, for his daughter, had however been immense. Had Amanda not explicitly told him that any attempt by him to travel to Tokyo-3 would be blocked Wilhelm would have been on the next flight over to Japan. As it was it had taken the woman and her husband two hours over video conference to calm Wilhelm down enough to stop him from trying anyway. And then came the battle with the Sixteenth Angel and the attempted murder that nearly took Asuka away from him forever. That one required Katerose to literally knock him on his ass to keep him in Berlin.

A part of Wilhelm was still a bit angry with his half-sister for stopping him from going to Tokyo-3 but as she had stated he was needed when the time came and NERV-Berlin was used to launch a cyberattack on NERV-Tokyo. In order to make sure he did not miss that event Wilhelm had resorted to basically camping out in his office. His colleagues assumed Wilhelm was burying himself in his work to avoid thinking about his daughter. His wife knew otherwise however and fully supported his intentions. It was not just him that Asuka had been reconciling with these past few months after all and the hour long phone call between the Asuka and her stepmother just before the attack by Arael had, if not completely bridged the distance between the two, considerably narrowed it. His wife was starting to feel like a mother in fact as well as in name to the girl and much as Wilhelm did not want to lose this newly kindled relationship.

Klaxons began blaring throughout the base, causing Wilhelm to start. He looked at his computer and watched as all of the compute jobs running in the MAGI were evicted as a higher priority task began eating up the supercomputer's resources. The man's eyes narrowed as the filter given to him by Soren triggered. This was it, this really was it. NERV-Berlin was joining in with MAGI from around the world to attempt to hack NERV-Tokyo's systems. Tht meant his turn was up. Wilhelm began typing away at his computer, logging into the MAGI using a backdoor prearranged by Amanda tied to his credentials. From there he began uploading the worm that would bring the MAGI to its knees.

His part done, Wilhelm sat back to wait for NERV-Berlin's Section-2 agents to come for him. The technicians that would soon be fighting to kill the worm would almost certainly trace its origin to his system. That was just fine with Wilhelm. They would probably bring him to the base commander who would then demand he undo the damage the worm had wrought. That would be impossible, Wilhelm was no programmer after all, but it would give him a chance to confront the man that was prepared to murder his daughter for the sake of some sick attempt at godhood. There would be a reckoning. Oh, there would be a reckoning.

* * *

"Well, they're punctual if nothing else," Misato observed from atop the command dais. "And very, very determined."

Ritsuko's snort could be heard over the radio. "What is it about you that always creates more work for me?"

"Oh? I thought the firewall Amanda gave you is just plug and play?" Misato said, glancing over at the woman in question.

"It is," Amanda reiterated.

"It may be plug and play, but we still need to plug it in," Ritsuko said. "That's not nearly as straightforward as the two of you seem to think."

"Funny, Dr. Ackermann seemed to think it was," Amanda muttered.

Misato chuckled. "Well, we have time."

The two women looked up at the progression of the MAGI hack by all of the other worldwide NERV sites. The only site not participating in the attack was Tagbha Base and then probably only because the latency for roundtrip communication from Earth to the moon would have been too high for it to contribute meaningfully. Suddenly, connections from NERV-Berlin dropped off. Misato frowned.

"That your doing?" the woman asked her friend.

"Indirectly," Amanda replied. "It looks like Dr. Langley has uploaded the worm."

"He's, not going to get his chops busted for doing that, right?"

"We told him to lay low after doing the upload," Amanda said, "and even if he doesn't we do have some assets in place to look out for him. He should be okay until the Bundeswehr moves in to secure the place."

Misato grunted in acceptance of the reassurance though she remained somewhat nervous about the elder Langley's involvement. If something happened to him Asuka would never forgive them. A few more minutes passed as the opposing MAGIs made slow but steady progress overriding the various security screens and lockouts protecting Tokyo-3's systems. They would have made even faster progress had the system layout Amanda forwarded been completely accurate but a few flaws that critically undermined any attempt to use the layout to engineer an attack had been slipped in before the data got to SEELE. As it was, combined with the upgraded 666 firewall Amanda was having Ritsuko install there was little chance of them losing control of the Geofront short of being forcibly evicted by arms. Getting SEELE to attempt just that was the point of this whole farce.

"There," Ritsuko declared a few minutes later.

At the same time the red indicating breaches in the MAGI was wiped out on the status monitors.

"I must say, whoever designed this system came up with a very impressive little toy," Ritsuko remarked. "She almost certainly has to be as familiar with the MAGI as me. Maybe more."

Amanda and Misato exchanged wiry smiles. Ritsuko had not been brought in that deep, yet, but the collective had big plans for the role the good doctor would play in the post-SEELE world now that she was reformed. Assuming they could get her to believe all of the trans-dimensional aspects of course.

"How long before the JSSDF launches their assault?" Misato asked.

Amanda checked her watch. "They should already be at their jump off points. It should take them no more than half an hour to get into position for the actual attack, so that plus however long it takes SEELE to make the call. So, half an hour and change."

"Won't the old men be surprised," Misato said with a feral grin.

The one on Amanda's face easily eclipsed it in ferocity.

* * *

"Kayabuki is not responding to our orders," SEELE 09 stated. "It would appear that General Katsuragi has compromised her."

"But how?" SEELE 04 demanded.

"Kayabuki was recruited by Reimer," SEELE 07 said. "With his death, it may well be that she no longer considers herself bound to us."

"A poor choice on Reimer's part," SEELE 04 said dismissively.

"Whether it is so is irrelevant," SEELE 01 cut through the discussion. "NERV-Tokyo has managed to defeat the hacking attempt and the Third Branch's systems have been locked down internally. Katsuragi may have accomplices in Germany."

"We have no provisions for retaking NERV-Berlin," SEELE 02 said worriedly.

"We do not," SEELE-01 agreed, "at least not directly."

The others waited for their leader to elaborate.

"General Klinge is a diligent agent and over the years has formulated countless contingencies. I have little doubt she has one that could be adapted to regain control of the Third Branch."

The murmurs that responded to Kiel's point were more relaxed than the previous nervous chatter. Berlin however was not the only fire on SEELE's platter right now however.

"And NERV-Tokyo?" SEELE 03 asked.

"Send in the JSSDF," SEELE-01 ordered. "Purge all who have dared defy us."

* * *

Shinji stared at Soren slack jawed. The boy had been doing that for the past five minutes and while the German, or at least German appearing, man seemed willing to give him however long he needed to recover, Mari was visibly fidgeting. The girl really did not know how to sit still.

"So, we didn't break you right pup?"

Shinji blinked before shaking his head. Nevertheless when he opened his mouth to try to speak again it only hung there wordlessly. Mari chuckled.

"Well, don't worry too much," the girl said. "You won't be alone in this. Just imagine how the princess will feel when she finds out!"

That caused Shinji to glance over at the sleeping girl. Asuka was still unconscious but her condition was improving with each passing minute. Mari was right though, once the girl did wake and was told the truth about Amanda and Soren, well, Shinji expected the resulting fireworks to be quite spectacular.

"So, there are other timelines," Shinji finally got the words he wanted out, "and in some of those other timelines, we failed to stop Third Impact."

Soren nodded.

"But, how did you and Amanda-san, umm, get here? And, as, well, you?"

"The specific form that Third Impact took united all human souls into a godlike being," Soren said. "This, being, possesses immense power, power that we harnessed to cross the dimensional divide. As it is we are expending that power even as we speak in order to maintain our presence in your timeline."

Shinji looked over at Mari and then back at Soren. "So, you came over as different people, to help guide me and Asuka?"

"And Misato, Ritsuko, and countless other people," Soren said. "To stop Third Impact required more than just you and Asuka overcoming your trials, we needed to rally an entire world with you. SEELE after all needed the resources of a world to bring about their vision of Instrumentality."

A confused look appeared on Shinji's face. "Instrumentality?"

"The creation of this godlike being, the union of all human souls in my home timeline, it was no accident," Soren stated. "It was all planned by a, think of them as a cabal. They believed that humanity had no future if it continued in its current form and so conceived of a plan to, forcibly transform the species. Instrumentality was their answer, the subsuming of all souls into one singular being, no individuality, no free will. Conversely, all of the pain and suffering that we experience because we are individuals who cannot perfectly understand our fellow man would also disappear because there would no longer be an us versus them."

"But, doesn't that mean the things that make us happy would also be gone?" Shinji asked.

Soren cracked a slight grin while Mari chuckled.

"Very good pup," the girl congratulated him. "You're exactly right. And after everything you've been through, would you really be willing to trade your happiness with the princess for forgetting all the pain you've experienced?"

"No," Shinji said without hesitation.

Mari nodded approvingly and glanced over at Soren. "I'd say he passes."

"Yes, he does," Soren said. "Well, you've at least gotten further than I did."

Shinji cocked his head aside. "Huh?"

"Keep in mind that I am here because Third Impact happened," Soren said.

"Oh," Shinji said softly. "But, then, is Amanda your Asuka?"

"No," Soren said immediately.

The confused look came back. "But, you married her. You love her, don't you?"

"One thing you will need to understand," Soren said. "I am you, at the same time I am myself. You and I might both be Shinji Ikari, but not all Shinji Ikaris are the same. Across the innumerable variations, you would be surprised at all of the different people you fall in love with, just as Asuka is capable of falling in love with someone other than Shinji Ikari."

"Then, who did you love?" Shinji asked.

Soren regarded Shinji thoughtfully before tilting his head. "Ayanami."

Shinji's eyes widened. "But, she's, I mean, isn't she-"

"Our sister? Genetically the argument could be made. Psychologically and socially, we were not raised together and so never imprinted on one another as siblings. And in my timeline, Ayanami was one of the few people who unconditionally gave me her affection. Not even Asuka was able to offer that after near-Third Impact."

The boy stared at Soren silently for several moments. "I, don't know how to take all this."

"Don't think too hard on it," Mari suggested. "Just know that we're here to prevent Third Impact in this timeline and we're trying to make sure as many of you survive to live long, happy lives afterward as possible."

Shinji turned his head to regard Mari. "I, suppose. But, you came as yourself, Mari-san? Not as, someone else?"

"Oh, I came as someone else too," Mari said. "You know, Madison."

Shinji's eyes widened. "Colonel Metz?"

The girl's head bobbed up and down.

"She, I haven't seen her around since, the last battle," Shinji said.

"Madison returned to her home timeline," Soren said, "after executing an emergency protocol to save Asuka's life."

The boy looked at his girlfriend again. "Is that why Asuka doesn't have any, physical injuries?"

Soren nodded. The boy could be surprisingly quick.

"But, you stayed?" Shinji said to Mari. "Are, you two from different timelines?"

"Hmm, not exactly," Mari said. "How to explain it?"

"Mari is a test case," Soren took over. "We wanted to see if we could cross over entirely and so we duplicated Mari's, pattern, to put it simplistically. This timeline did not originally have a Mari Illustrious Makinami but we were able to transplant her pattern and make it native. We then tried to see if we could get Madison's pattern to, resonate, with Mari's, and thus anchor Madison's pattern to this timeline as well."

"Umm, I'm not sure I understood any of that," Shinji said.

"I suppose you are missing some context," Soren said. "We're here to stop Third Impact in your timeline, but that is because we are hoping to use this timeline as a refuge. Humanity as a species is headed for extinction in our timelines and when that happens, all of the souls that compose the human race will be extinguished. To avoid that happening, we intend to have all of the human souls cross over. To do that however, they need an anchor on this side to, tune into, so to speak. Mari and Madison were used to test whether that plan was actually feasible without impacting someone who was actually native to the timeline."

Shinji stared at Soren. "I'm still not sure I understand completely, but I think I get the basic idea."

"Good, then you can explain it to the Fraulein after all this is over."

The boy blinked. "Huh? Me? But, wouldn't you be able to do a better job? And Asuka would probably understand all the details if you told her them."

Mari shook her head. "Doesn't work that way pup. Once the endgame is over, all of the others in the collective have to go back to their home timelines."

At this Shinji looked in alarm at his older self who nodded.

"We are not natives to this timeline, Herr Ikari," Soren said. "Even Madison, had she not needed to execute Terminus, would have returned. For some of them the reason is simple, in their timelines Third Impact did not happen and they still have a chance to save their iterations of the human race. A better chance, seeing as they will be taking back with them the knowledge they gained from all of the groundwork we did to save this timeline. For others whose timelines saw Third Impact occur, well, I mentioned that the test with Madison and Mari worked. That was only partially true. In order to cross over, the soul that we need in order to tune into this timeline needs to have imprinted itself in the chamber of Guf. For that imprint to happen, the soul must have passed on from life."

Shinji sucked in a sharp breath and Soren nodded at his response.

"That is correct, the person must first die. And seeing as our goal is to ensure as minimal of collateral casualties as possible, we're not going to start killing people just to create our anchors. The end result however is that when our souls do cross over, it will be in a later point of the timeline from your perspective."

"The future, in other words," Mari chimed in. "For them at least. I'll still be here."

Shinji looked at the older man sadly. "I'm going to miss you and Amanda. And I know Asuka will too."

Soren smiled gently at the boy. "Then honor us by living your lives fully. And be content with that fact that you will be saving us all in the long run."

Shinji tried to return the smile but his was still tinted with a whiff of sorrow. There was no helping that, after everything the German couple had done for him, he had hoped that he would be able to share more of his life with them.

The radio Soren carried on his belt crackled.

"Soren, you there?" Amanda's voice called out.

The German man picked up the handset. "Yes?"

"JSSDF's on the move," Amanda said without preamble. "It's show time."

"Roger that."

The German man stood and Shinji followed suit.

"Stay here with the Fraulein," Soren ordered however. "You two will be safe here. You have already defeated the Angels, leave it to us to defeat SEELE."

Shinji looked at the man before bowing deeply. "Thank you very much, Reimer-san. For everything."

The man's form shimmered and when Shinji rose it was an older version of himself that was looking back at him. Soren extended a hand. Shinji took it.

"Take care of Ayanami for me."

Shinji's eyes widened as the implications of the request hit him. He recovered quickly however and gave the older man's hand a firm shake. It was a promise.

* * *

The Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force was never very large compared to the wider JSDF. At its peak it was composed of three divisions, one understrength. The 1st Armored had participated in the attempt to defeat Sachiel and been badly mauled. Elements of the understrength 3rd had also been present but had not moved to engage before the N2 warhead was dropped. Since then the 3rd Division had been more or less gutted to provide the core of the 597th UN Regiment, complemented with one of the surviving armored battalions from the 1st. At present the 2nd was the only division that was up to strength and the 1st and 3rd were little more than paper formations. This was perhaps one reason that the 2nd Division was spearheading the invasion of NERV-Tokyo with what was left of the 1st supporting it.

A poorly kept secret about the 2nd Division was that it was composed of most of the hardliner nationalists in the Japanese military. These were the people that believed in elevating Japan's place in the new world order of post-Second Impact and saw the JSSDF as the true inheritors of the old Imperial Japanese Army. Because of their belief in the sanctity of their purpose the 2nd Division had a tendency towards zealotry and strict adherence to any order handed down. This mentality also likely played a role in them being handed the extermination mission. As expected beyond a few token words of half-hearted regret about the necessity of their act, none of the soldiers of the 2nd Division expressed any genuine doubt over what they were about to do.

One slight wrinkle to the planned assault had occurred however and that was the presence of the 597th Regiment composed of many of their former comrades. The UN had officially ordered the regiment to withdraw but all indications were the 597th was sitting tight. They even had the gall to shoot at the surveillance drones currently scouting the city, downing several and leaving holes in the JSSDF's net.

"Damnation Kayabuki, what are you thinking," Suzaku muttered.

The major general was the overall commander of the JSSDF and had decided to take direct control of the operation to ensure it unfolded smoothly. Personal responsibility, or at least a form of it, was big amongst the nationalists.

"She's just a woman," one of his subordinate colonels commented. "She has no sense of loyalty."

Suzaku grunted. "Perhaps so, but it would be unwise to underestimate her ability. She did not rise to command one of my battalions by accident."

That silenced the other officer lest he accidentally criticize the general. In some ways Suzaku did regret being pitted against his former subordinate. True Kayabuki was a woman, but she was of a rare breed that seemed to understand duty and honor. That she now chose to stand against him did not make that any less true for there was no knowing whether Kayabuki was a willing accomplice to the criminals commanding NERV. She might well have been duped, much as the Japanese government and the rest of the world had been before their eyes were opened. Time however was almost out for Kayabuki to realize the errors of her way and withdraw.

"General, the armored units report they are in position."

And that was that. Suzaku nodded. "Begin operation."

A few kilometers away the Challenger 2 tanks rolled out and entered the outskirts of the city. Others approached through the areas wrecked by Unit 00's self-destruct. In all four armored battalions were moving in, easily outnumbering the single battalion under Kayabuki's command. So far however they had yet to encounter any resistance and the tanks rolled towards the main train hub. Once secured, it would serve as the insertion point for the bulk of the JSSDF infantry. Other points of entry would also be secured but none were anywhere as large as that of the hub. The tunnel carved by the positron rifle when it was used against Zeruel and the one created by the same Angel had somehow been filled with enough rubble to make easy access a pipedream. If they wanted to bring overwhelming force down upon the Geofront they would need to take the hub.

"This is Fifth Company, still no sign of resistance," the voice reported over the radio. "The city seems completely abandoned."

"Someone was shooting at our drones so they have to be there somewhere," an officer replied. "Remain vigilant."

"Yes sir."

More reports filtered in with much the same. No resistance, no contacts, making good time towards their objectives. That was rather surprising, seeing as armor tended to be considerably less effective in urban combat. One would have thought Kayabuki would want to start reducing Suzaku's forces as quickly as possible before the general could gain a foothold. Either they had overestimated the good colonel or she had something else in mind.

"Wait, detecting some movement," a voice crackled and all of the officers tensed. "Rounding the corner now-what is tha-"

A hint of an explosion sounded before a wash of static filled the channel. The white noise did not last long.

"Contact! Enemy unit engaging! What is that thing!? Aw-"

"Open fire! All units AP rounds! Take it down!"

"Report!" Suzaku snapped. "What is going on!"

"It's some kind of giant walker! It's shooting us with-"

Suzaku turned to another officer. "Do we have eyes above?"

The officer quickly typed at his terminal. "Drone rerouting now, bringing up visual feed."

The image was grainy and of relatively low resolution, making the zoomed in picture even more blurry. The sheer size of the enemy however made it easy to identify.

"What, is that a Trident!?" one of the officers exclaimed. "What is it doing here!?"

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "So that's what they were up to. That's why that UN auditor took our pilots, so that they could build their own versions. No, finish. They had to have started building them long ago."

The sheer gall of NERV to be using their own weapons against them was beyond insulting, especially since it had been NERV along with the UN that had killed the Trident project to begin with. As they watched the Trident strode forward with amazing speed, its chin gun flashing and pounding at the thin top armor of the tanks it towered above. Still, the walker was just a bit slower than the tanks and the survivors managed to round a corner and momentarily get out of its line of sight. The reprieve did not last long as suddenly the Trident jumped and the rockets on its side ignited, carrying it forward in one mighty leap to close the distance. Landing with a thunderous roar, the walker unleashed a salvo of missiles to finish what it started and wiped out the last of the tank company. If there was any consolation to this carnage it was that Suzaku doubted the Japanese government would need any convincing to restart the Trident program. This time he vowed that he would not let any softhearted foreigner or weak minded bureaucrat interfere.

"Get our air support in and take down the Trident," Suzaku ordered. "Tank companies are to avoid contact. Reroute them around."

"Aye sir!"

A squadron of VTOLs that had been coasting high in the sky quickly descended. Their initial run consisted of a salvo of missiles raining down upon the Trident and the squadron changed to hover mode in preparation for their follow up. To their surprise however a steady stream of bullets rose up from the Trident and blew apart a large percentage of the missiles. The others seemed to go haywire as the radar jamming interfered with their tracking and exploded harmlessly around the walker. The Trident then responded directly and the cannon on its back roared, blasting apart the first VTOL. The others swerved out of the way only to come under fire from the chin gun. Rounds designed to punch through tank armor, albeit the thin top armor instead of the heavier front armor, had little trouble cutting through the skin of the VTOLs. Two more went down in short order.

"This is Third Company," another unit reported in. "We're approaching the train hub, no resistance so-wait, contact! We have-"

Again the reporting voice was brutally cut off and again cries of panic erupted over the radio. Another drone quickly revealed the details as it showed not one but two Tridents emerge from camouflaged buildings and begin tearing about the JSSDF tanks.

"First Company is under attack! I repeat-"

Now a fourth of the walkers made its presence known, hitting another of the armored units advancing through the city. The Tridents had been strategically positioned, two protecting the ever critical hub and the other two securing the major avenues of approach. While the JSSDF could move its troops along other vectors, it would result in their forces arriving piecemeal and making it even easier for the walkers to cut them down. Suzaku had been right, they really should not have underestimated Kayabuki.

"Sir," another officer said, drawing Suzaku's attention. "I think you want to hear this sir, it's been broadcasting on all unencrypted channels since the fighting started."

Taking the headset Suzaku put it on. He frowned as he recognized the voice. His frown turned into a sneer quickly after.

"This is Colonel Midori Kayabuki of the UN 597th. To all the traitors of humanity, know that this is the day you die. We will not allow you to slaughter the innocent men, women, and children of NERV, we will not allow you to stain the honor of Japan with your callous disregard for the sanctity of life, and we will not allow you to initiate Third Impact. Know this enemies of mankind, for while we draw breath this day shall not be yours!"

The message looped, obviously a recording the colonel had made earlier. The contents however caused a steady rage to build within Suzaku. He had felt a mild regret at seeing the lives of his former subordinates wasted, but if Kayabuki had allowed herself to be so deluded then it would be a mercy to put down her and those that followed her.

"Pull back our units," Suzaku ordered.

"Sir?"

"You heard me," the general said. "We don't have the local firepower to take down the Tridents. We'll need to resort to more unconventional means."

"Yes sir!"

The order was passed down and the various units began filtering out of the city. They did not withdraw unopposed however as two of the Tridents pursued them, hounding and chipping away at their numbers at every turn. Those that were found by the walkers did not emerge at all, save for two very lucky battalions that escaped only because the walkers had exhausted most of their munitions. They then began their own withdrawal, headed towards the train hub to resupply.

The JSSDF was not idle however and soon explosions began rocking the Tridents. Now free of concern about hitting their own forces, the artillery that had originally been positioned to deal with NERV's EVAs let loose and rained fire upon another set of mechs. The Tridents were sturdy constructs but not even they would survive indefinitely under such assault. Fortunately they did not have to simply accept such slights.

The two Tridents guarding the rail hub were slightly different. Instead of a long cannon mounted on their backs, a shorter, more squat barrel was there. Those two barrels now pointed upward and a hum began building. As it reached the peak of its crescendo two bolts of positrons erupted and arced through the air. Elements of the Second Artillery Company had mere seconds to realize what was going on before they were vaporized by the antimatter annihilation reaction.

Suzaku cursed as another artillery position was destroyed, the third since the Tridents had begun responding with their positron weapons. His own forces were not so equipped, an oversight that he now deeply regretted. Unfortunately the haste with which the operation had been mounted meant such problems were inevitable.

"Are the infantry making any progress from the train network?" Suzaku asked another officer.

Taking NERV by storming it from the central hub had been the preferred plan but no competent strategist relied on only a single avenue to victory. Even before the tanks had run into such fierce resistance squadrons of foot soldiers had begun making their way towards NERV through the countless tunnels that ran under Tokyo-3. The very networks once used to deploy the EVAs would now serve to doom NERV.

"They're making progress," the officer replied. "No resistance encountered so far."

Suzaku grunted. "That will not last long. Tell them not to get overconfident."

"Yes sir!"

The general looked out across his battlefield. Smoke and ashes were already filling the air and fires burned off in the distance. The carnage would be much greater before the day was over.

* * *

Technically Soren did not need to be out here, the regiment was perfectly capable of handling the odds and ends of JSSDF soldiers that managed to get into the tunnel network. There was still an angry hunger though, a hunger fueled by the attempt to murder Mana and the death of Kaji. It was to sate this hunger that Soren came forth to meet the soldiers invading his domain. He set his machine pistols to semi-auto. He wanted this to last so he would need to be conservative with his ammo for once. It also helped that humans did not tend to take bullets in the face as well as AT-field equipped opponents.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor as a squad of JSSDF soldiers ran towards Soren's position. The German man worked out their relative formation and stepped out. To their credit the soldiers were on alert, rifles raised and ready to fire. The point man got off a single burst before jerking back as Soren's own shot hit him in the head. The other soldiers reacted immediately and opened up on Soren. All of their shots slammed harmlessly into the prismatic barrier the man projected. Soren gave them just enough time to realize their weapons' ineffectualness before returning fire, taking out the Japanese soldiers with one shot each from the two pistols he wielded. A few of the soldiers in the rear actually had enough time to attempt a retreat. None made it more than a few steps before Soren's attention reached them. The two empty clips clanked as they hit the ground and Soren casually reloaded. The next squad was still a few minutes away.

"Squad 4, respond, have you breached the strongpoint? Squad 4, report immediately!"

Soren regarded the crackling radio on one of the dead soldiers. He picked it up.

"This is General Reimer of the United Nations Military Command with a message to General Suzaku. The complicity of the JSSDF in the attempt to initiate Third Impact has been reported to my government and its respective allies. Should you wish to demonstrate your innocence of this charge, I suggest you stand down before reinforcements arrive. Continued hostility against NERV and the UN forces assigned to defend it will be seen as confirmation of guilt and warrant summary judgment."

Having said his piece the German man tossed the radio aside, the force of his motion cracking the device as it hit the wall. Deciding that he did not have the patience to wait for more prey, Soren stepped forward to meet them instead.

* * *

Misato frowned as she watched the video feed on her personal monitor.

"Is Soren able to project an AT-field because he underwent Instrumentality?" she asked.

"Kind of," Amanda said. "He is capable of projecting the AT-field on his own but doing so draws a great deal of power that we would not prefer get wasted. We rejigged the timeline so that Soren is, well, his body is actually a product of a SEELE project that ran parallel with Nagisa's."

The commander grimaced. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Probably not," Amanda said. "As far as SEELE was concerned, Soren was an experiment to see if they could embed an Adams embryo into a human and impart upon said human with the abilities of an Angel."

"You-you had SEELE do what?" Misato hissed. "Isn't that tantamount to human experimentation?"

"SEELE was already doing that without our encouragement. What we did was have SEELE hand Soren the power of an S2 organ," Amanda corrected her friend. "Everything that's been done to him and me? We chose to let happen because it advanced our overall plan."

Misato did not look convinced but did not argue the point. After all, she knew exactly what else had been done to her friend.

"So, what exactly is Soren doing right now?" she asked instead. "The regiment's not exactly having any trouble holding back the JSSDF."

"In a word? He's probably venting," Amanda said. "When this whole thing started he didn't really care about the JSSDF one way or another but at this point he probably loathes them about as much as he loathes anyone beyond SEELE and his parents."

"His parents?" Misato said quizzically. "I can understand his father, but why does he hate his mother?"

"Ah, the timeline Soren came from, his mother was not absorbed into Unit 01," Amanda said. "Or rather, not completely absorbed. It was somewhat similar to what happened with Asuka's mother save that Yui Ikari did not go insane. She was however stripped of, well, basically the ability to feel compassion, and with that gone she regarded basically everyone around her as nothing more than tools. If they served their purpose well, great. If not, she discarded them. And since she had the child she needed for her plan for Instrumentality, well, her husband was no longer necessary, so she separated from him, dumped Shinji as his responsibility until she needed him, and basically cut off contact for years."

Misato stared at her friend. "What. The. Hell."

"Yeah, Soren in his original timeline was more than a bit messed up. But the way he developed ended up making him perfect for the counterpart I needed to deceive SEELE and pull all this off. But it wasn't just his ability or his ruthlessness, deep down Soren is capable of being very loving, and the JSSDF's tried to mess with the people he cares about in this timeline one too many times."

The commanding officer of NERV looked back at her monitor, just in time to see Soren mow down another squad of enemy soldiers. It really was no contest, mere mortals could not overcome the AT-field Soren wielded and with a S2 organ backing him up he was nigh unstoppable. It was probably a good thing that Soren was on her side, Misato mused.

"How long before we expect the EVA series to get here?" Misato asked.

"We've still got at least another hour or so," Amanda replied. "More if our other assets come through. If we're really lucky they'll even soften them up a little for us."

The purple haired woman looked over at her friend. "You know, you still haven't told me what this big asset is."

Amanda smiled beatifically. "Some surprises are worth waiting for."

* * *

Suzaku stared at the radio operator as the man relayed the message that came in from squad 4's channel. This was the second time the other side had accused his own forces of attempting to initiate Third Impact. Either they genuinely believed this nonsense or they were lying trying to buy time. What clinched it for the general was this UN officer's claim that reinforcements were on the way. There was no way that NERV could still communicate with the outside world, not with all of their landlines cut and the amount of jamming the JSSDF was throwing up. For that matter the JSSDF itself was cut off, intentionally so in their case, from outside contact. That meant the man was bluffing, hoping to fob him off long enough for them, the real conspirators, to initiate Third Impact. Suzaku sneered. It was insulting that they even thought that such nonsense would work on him.

"Status on the infiltration?" he asked.

"Umm, our forces are starting to meet some heavy resistance. They're reporting that there are several strongpoints where the UN regiment has blocked off with their Bradley AFVs."

The general growled. Of course, NERV had had plenty of time to move their vehicles into the tunnels and fortify. With the Tridents they would hardly need to employ them on the surface. In such confined spaces his infantry would simply be cut down by the enemy's greater firepower unless he could get his own tanks down there to dig them out. Fortunately he still had another option yet. Suzaku picked up the radio and spoke a simple phrase on a dedicated channel. The order was relayed further down the chain until it finally reached a ballistic missile submarine waiting off the coast of Japan for just this eventuality. It began to rise.

End of Chapter 43

It would appear that several people either completely missed or do not remember the conversation the sidesteppers held a couple of chapters back where they discussed the need to fake several deaths in order to trick SEELE into launching an attack on NERV. They weren't exactly subtle about it either, so that one's on you guys for missing.

The regiment's, morale booster was introduced in chapter 7. Said booster shows up again at the start of chapter 16. And I expect the booster will appear at least one more time next chapter.

My explanation of the sidesteppers and their goals assume at least a passing familiarity with some of the additional mythos established in the Rebuild continuity. I am also not going to lay out every single detail about the mechanics behind the sidesteppers and their powers. Most of those details are irrelevant to understanding them and trying to explain it all would only serve as a distraction seeing as no explanation is going to satisfy every single reader and the more detailed I attempt to get the more said explanation basically becomes a rambling monologue. It's up to your imagination to help you fill the holes based off of what information I have revealed, information that I feel is sufficient for this purpose. I will help, but I will not do all the work for you, nor do I feel any obligation to do so. Don't worry, there will be a dramatis personae at the end of all this, since not all of the sidesteppers will have had enough appearances to be easily guessed.

For those curious, the chingun mounted on the Trident derivative is a GAU-8/A Avenger, aka that big ass gun used on the A-10 Warthog which fires 30mm rounds capable of punching through tank armor if it hits the right place. The Tridents used by NERV are also not 100% copies of the ones the JSSDF was developing. For one thing, they don't suffer from the design flaw that was putting the pilot trainees in the hospital. For another, this variant is a pure land combat system instead of trying to incorporate the ability to also fight on water or in the air. It has limited ability to 'jump' as demonstrated this chapter but it's not meant to travel long distances continuously in the air. The simplification of its mission role allowed the sidesteppers to come up with a more efficient design optimized for land warfare. It's also not the only thing they had in the works. And for those that claim there was no foreshadowing of the Tridents, I direct you to previous chapters where Madison was discussing with the others about the offloading and assembly of all of the toys she brought with her. And the Morgenroete facility that Soren intentionally destroyed with the imploding S2 engine from Unit 04.

The next for the next chapter is actually 80% done (most of it written months ago) but there are a couple of scenes that are going to require I do some research before I can finish writing them, so don't expect very quick turnaround. I also technically am going to be switching over to work on the next chapter of _A Cold Calculus_ before that and with me back out from behind the Great Firewall I'll be going back to work so expect the rate of updates to slow, considerably. At this rate I may just not breach my targeted 50 chapter limit (including epilogues), but we'll see.

I wonder how many tropes I've employed over the course of the story.


	45. Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Kein Pardon

As the Secret Service detail opened the door for the president their first thought was they were about to be called upon to make one final sacrifice for the sake of their charge. Their second thoughts were a mixture of confusion for those not in the know and a stunned realization for those with additional allegiances as the platoon of soldiers swarmed and secured them. Both feelings were accented when the commanding lieutenant saluted Franklin.

"Mr. President, as per Executive Order 13011 we are initiating Operation Undershaft."

Franklin nodded. "Very good lieutenant. I am in your hands."

"We will not fail you sir. If you will come this way, we will depart immediately for Fort Bragg."

Franklin nodded again and then glanced at lead agent of his detail. "I suppose at this point you probably have an inkling of what's going on Thomas. I'm not going to apologize, especially to a man that sold out his loyalties like you have. You may have thought that you could escape the consequences of your actions because of what SEELE has promised, but I want you to know that you will very much be around to face judgment for your crimes. And by the time the day is over, I can also assure you that SEELE will have already faced their judgments and will not be around to lend you any aid."

The shock that the uncompromised agents were feeling transferred from Franklin to their nominal superior. That shock however was quickly turning into rage as the full meaning of Franklin's words penetrated and they realized that a deep cancer had taken root in their service, a cancer that had prompted their president to go outside their ranks to cleanse it. All of them were privately agreeing that indeed, those traitors would face judgment. And if they needed to suffer the minor indignity of being thrown to the ground, it was a small price to pay to see that day.

Franklin was flanked by the soldiers as he exited the White House, an armored transport helicopter waiting on the grounds. Quite a few spectators were visible but the large presence of troops ringing the grounds kept them well back. While they were in a hurry, Franklin took the time to smile and wave at the crowds. He was certain someone would take a picture of that moment and maybe that suggestion of normality would help prevent mass panic from breaking out.

As the helicopter rose and headed south, it was joined by another taking off from the Congress building. Another passenger rode in that one, this one not voluntarily. Franklin was almost looking forward to meeting with the other passenger. He had had to suffer Speaker of the House Westmann's evangelical idiocy for far too long to not be looking forward to taking the man down a few notches.

"Mr. President," a soldier said. "I have a status update for you."

"Please, sergeant."

"Yes sir. As we suspected, we've lost contact with the _Alabama_. _Seawolf_ is shadowing but doesn't have a hard fix on its location."

"We'll have to make do. Inform _Seawolf_ that she is to neutralize the _Alabama_."

"Yes sir. Also sir, we've managed to establish a secure line to Admiral O'Connell."

"Good, can you put me through to him now?"

"Yes sir."

The sergeant worked a few buttons before nodding.

"Admiral O'Connell, this is President Franklin. Can you hear me?"

"Yes Mr. President, what can I do for you?"

"Admiral, I understand that officially you are part of the UN's chain of command and I cannot legally issue you an order. I have however come into possession of intelligence that indicates elements within the UN are attempting to initial Third Impact."

The line was silent for several moments.

"That is an extraordinary claim Mr. President," O'Connell finally said.

"I understand, and I also understand the need to present extraordinary proof for such a claim. However we are on a severely constrained timetable. Admiral, I presume you are aware of several large aircraft currently traversing the Pacific to reach Japan?"

"Yes, I am so aware," came the confused response.

"Those transports are carrying the Mass Production Evangelion Series," Franklin said. "These Evangelions were rushed into production not to fight Angels but because they are instruments for initiating Third Impact. Even now NERV-Tokyo is coming under attack because they are attempting to destroy the other tools necessary for Third Impact. If those EVAs reach Tokyo-3, then we may well see the end of the world."

The silence was even longer this time.

"What would you have me do Mr. President?" O'Connell said. "I have seen the power of an Evangelion first hand. I doubt even the ships I still command could stand up to one, much less the, nine, that you claim are headed towards Japan."

"You do not need to stop them," Franklin said, "only delay them. As I have said, NERV-Tokyo has also mobilized to try and neutralize the possibility of Third Impact. If you can but delay the rogue Evangelions from reaching them for long enough, NERV and the Children who pilot the true Evangelions, the true defenders of humanity, will be ready to end this fight."

The third pause was the longest yet and Franklin waited in the tense silence. If O'Connell refused to help the odds would tip heavily against them. But if the admiral was willing to believe him, then they might stand a chance after all.

"You said the Children are preparing to fight," the admiral said.

"Yes," Franklin replied. "It is my understanding that they intend to deploy against the rogue Evangelions to destroy them, much as they have destroyed the Angels in the past."

"Then it would be rather boorish of me to repeat the mistake I made when last I had a chance to fight at their side," O'Connell said.

Franklin found himself smiling without even realizing it.

"I will deploy what fighters I have to intercept the EVAs," O'Connell continued. "On the honor of the Pacific Fleet, we will buy the Children all the time they need."

"Thank you Admiral," Franklin said. "Godspeed, and good hunting."

Franklin nodded to the sergeant who gave him a thumbs up.

"XVIII Corps is preparing to deploy now," he said. "General Adams and the 101st Airborne are already in the air, ETA to Tokyo-3 one hour."

"Good," Franklin said. "Are all NERV sites in the US secured?"

"Our forces are moving in now sir. So far no major resistance has been encountered. They expect to complete the lockdown within the hour. The cyberattack against NERV has already ended, at least from our sites. Kill teams are also standing by to terminate SEELE 03, 04, 06, 08, and 09."

"Not yet," said Franklin. "We need to make sure SEELE has no other tricks up their sleeve before we pull that trigger."

"Yes sir."

"And besides," Franklin said, a feral smile crossing his face, "I wouldn't want them to mistake exactly what is happening to them."

* * *

The door to Wilhelm's office creaked open as whomever was outside used the manual override to force it open. The scientist stood and simply watched as the door opened wide enough to allow a Section-2 agent to enter.

"Dr. Langley, please come with us."

"Where to?" Wilhelm asked.

"The command center. Director von Oberstein wishes to speak with you."

"Very well," Wilhelm acquiesced, squeezing out through the door and finding another Section-2 agent outside.

The two men flanked the scientist as they headed toward the command center. Had Wilhelm's mind not been preoccupied with thoughts of how he might confront the Third Branch's commander he might have wondered at why neither of the agents bothered patting him down. Had they bothered they would have easily discovered the pistol Wilhelm had concealed under his labcoat. The scientist was not much of a shot but like all NERV personnel was required to at least know how to use the basics of firearms safety and how to use the weapon. Today that training would finally pay off.

The door to the command center had also been forced open with the manual override and even before entering Wilhelm could hear the flurry of activity as the operators and techs worked to unlock the system. Whatever Soren had given him to bring down the MAGI, it was a doozy. At this rate the technical division might well be desperate enough to attempt a complete systems reboot to try to clear out the worm. That would probably work, seeing as the nature of the MAGI meant that its bringup process was a highly manual task and required active selection of which processes to spin up again after a reset. Of course that was liable to take hours and Wilhelm somehow doubted von Oberstein and his SEELE sponsors had that much time to waste.

At first the NERV branch director did not deign to notice Wilhelm as the scientist was brought before him. After about a minute of watching his subordinates trying futilely to unlock the MAGI von Oberstein turned and regarded Wilhelm with his trademark cold gaze. The man rarely expressed any emotion he might feel, but unlike another German man that Wilhelm held in considerably higher esteem von Oberstein's composure merely hid a frigidity that most suspected was incapable of feeling the warmth of compassion. After learning what the man and his masters intended, Wilhelm was beyond suspecting.

"Dr. Langley," von Oberstein said softly. "You will undo the damage you have inflicted upon the MAGI."

"What makes you think I can?" Wilhelm countered.

Von Oberstein's eyes narrowed. "A remote possibility. One would have thought whomever provided you with the worm would have at least had the courtesy to provide you with a shutdown program, if only so that you might have a bargaining chip to exchange for your life."

"I have no regrets for what I have done," Wilhelm said. "Any father would do the same for the sake of their child, a child that others would see sacrificed for their depravity."

Wilhelm made no effort to keep his voice down and from the curious, even nervous, glances from a few of the closer operators, they had heard him loud and clear.

"One could argue that what we do is for the sake of your children," von Oberstein said. "Had you cooperated, we could have come to an arrangement to ensure that your daughter would have a place in Instrumentality."

"Your offer doesn't mean anything," Wilhelm stated. "When this day is over SEELE will be dead, the Third Impact they are trying to cause averted, and you answering for your crimes before all humanity."

The only sound in the room now was the beep of consoles. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing and stared at the confrontation between the two men. And then a very loud beep sounded.

"Got it!" a tech cried out. "I think I've isolated the worm!"

Von Oberstein regarded Wilhelm for another moment before turning away.

"You are obviously suffering delusions from the stress of your daughter's injuries," von Oberstein said. "We have more pressing work to do. Please escort Dr. Langley to a secured cell until such time as a psychiatric evaluation can be conducted."

Wilhelm's temper flared. "Oh no you don't you son of a-"

The scientist was still in the middle of pulling out his pistol when a gunshot sounded. Cries of alarm swept for the room and Wilhelm stood there frozen. Before him, von Oberstein was slumped over his console with a bloody hole in his head. Slowly looking to his side Wilhelm saw one of the Section-2 agents with his pistol drawn.

"What?" the doctor managed to rasp out.

"Under the authority of the UN IPEA, Director von Oberstein has been determined to be guilty of conspiracy to initiate Third Impact," the Section-2 agent said even as his pistol shifted to point at the tech that had just shouted. "This base will remain in lockdown until such time as the relevant authorities can secure it and determine whether there are any other accomplices at large."

The tech wisely raised his hands into the air. The other Section-2 agent turned to Wilhelm and nodded.

"General Reimer and Colonel Sommer send their regards, Herr Dokter."

Wilhelm blinked a few more times as he wrapped his head around what had just happened. At the very least though it looked as if NERV-Berlin would be removed from plan. That hopefully would be enough to allow NERV-Tokyo to defeat SEELE's remaining assets, assets like the EVA series.

* * *

As the preeminent military power before Second Impact the United States had ultimately contributed the largest share of hardware to the UN combined forces after the disaster. America being what it was however it had also held back quite a bit, leaving it with a still impressive force. A few of the items the US still retained were its ballistic missile and attack submarines. All of the former had been refitted with N2 warheads, the cleaner weapons more politically acceptable than dirty nukes seeing the already devastated state of the world but still no less immediately destructive.

A variety of reasons were given or theorized worldwide, most of it centered on the prickly national pride of the Americans. The real reason was both more complex and simpler. In truth SEELE already had control over several of the ballistic submarines and having to integrate them into the UN forces would have introduced unnecessary complexity. That little fact had been another reason for maneuvering Franklin into the presidency, allowing him to subtly transfer the necessary personnel to retake control over those very submarines. They had succeeded on all but one, the _Alabama_. Now they were out of time and needed to resort to more direct measures.

_Seawolf's_ captain was another member of the collective, formally a UN submarine skipper who at this point had two lifetimes of experience working on and commanding submarines. In the process of receiving his accreditations this time around he had inadvertently set several records while attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. At a minimum most would regard the captain as a highly competent professional. The captain himself knew that a reputation mattered little when out on the open seas.

"Any luck so far Travis?" the captain asked.

"Kind of sir," the sonar operator replied. "I think I've got _Alabama_ but I still can't pinpoint _Virginia_."

"Keep your eye on the prize Travis," the captain said. "The boomer's the one that is a threat to the world."

"Yes sir." The sonar operator's eyes lit up. "Wait, _Alabama's_ just sped up. I think, it's making for the surface."

The captain's eyes narrowed. That really could mean only one thing.

"And no sign of _Virginia_?" he asked.

"No sir. They might be hanging back."

And waiting to nail anyone that made a move against the ballistic submarine, was the unsaid afterthought. But orders were orders and there was a lot at stake here. No matter what they needed to take out _Alabama_, not just to keep Tokyo-3 from being flattened into a parking lot but also because leaving a ballistic missile submarine in the hands of SEELE loyalists was a really bad idea.

"Mr. Manstein, bring us up."

"Yes sir."

There was little doubt that _Seawolf_ could kill _Alabama_ even if it took a bit of time. The problem was without knowing where _Virginia_ was the attack sub ran the risk of being ambushed itself once it revealed its position by launching at the ballistic sub. Unfortunately they were out of time. In fact, _Seawolf_ could be said to have waited too long already as _Alabama_ neared launch depth. The attack sub followed.

* * *

Few witnesses were left of the battle under the Pacific though the collective knew exactly what happened as their sole member was reabsorbed from his corporeal existence. A singular missile rose into the sky even as the waters below absorbed a massive detonation. Seismographs worldwide detected the explosion and then that of a second not long after. No third explosion followed, at least in the Pacific Ocean.

With such short distances involved it took less than a minute for the ballistic missile to reach Tokyo-3. The resulting detonation of the N2 warhead vaporized much of what was left of Tokyo-3 including the Reimer-Sommer residence and the apartment complex shared by all the pilots. Having been forewarned however everything of value, sentimental or real, had been relocated by their respective inhabitants beforehand and so Soren's BMW was safely tucked away deep in the Geofront's underground parking lot. Whether that would do any good remained to be seen as NERV HQ became exposed to the sky above it.

"Damn, so much for that," Kayabuki muttered as the shaking subsided.

Amanda nodded, having dropped by to discuss some final matters with the regimental colonel before the N2 warhead was launched. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way. Well Midori, it's been real."

Kayabuki smiled. "Same here Amanda. Take care of yourself."

The brunette returned the smile. And then she reached out and embraced the other woman in a tight hug. Kayabuki was too stunned to immediately react but eventually returned it.

"I'm sorry for what you went through before," Amanda said after they parted. "And I'm sorry you never got the chance at happiness that you wanted."

"Ah now you're just going to make me feel bad about all those things I said about you," Kayabuki said, grinning.

Amanda snorted. "I doubt you really feel that bad."

The other woman chuckled. "Maybe not. But still, thanks Amanda. And I just want you to know that I am glad you and Soren found some happiness. You both deserved it."

With a parting smile Kayabuki strapped on her helmet and hefted her rifle. They still needed to stall the JSSDF forces for a bit longer before the cavalry could arrive after all and the longer Soren could hold off unleashing his powers the better their chances for overall success. Kayabuki was more than prepared to lay down this life to see things to their end.

Several of her squads were waiting for her, weapons at the ready and standing at attention.

"Well major, it's been a hell of a ride. Any regrets?"

Kudo shook his head. "No ma'am."

Kayabuki chuckled. "That's what I've always admired about you. You never complained despite all the crap I put you through, you always soldiered on. Thanks Kudo."

The major found his eyes slightly misting at the smile his commanding officer gave them all. He made no move to wipe those tears away however. It was so rare to see the colonel with a genuinely happy smile that he could not bring himself to do anything but regard her.

Kayabuki's eyes fell to the breast pockets of her troops and an eyebrow rose.

"So that's where all my cranes have been going," she said.

Kudo blinked and looked down. Despite himself he flushed and scratched his head sheepishly.

"Umm, Colonel, well, we took a count."

"Huh?"

For some reason Kudo tapped his radio. "Well, we checked how many Cipher Cranes, I mean, cranes you had folded ma'am," Kudo said. "And it's over a thousand."

Kayabuki's eyes widened as she heard those words both here and over the all regiment broadcast channel.

"So, please tell us your wish Colonel," Kudo said, his voice certain and strong. "We will do our best to grant it."

Kayabuki gazed at her troops wordlessly for several seconds. Now it was her eyes that were misting. The men and women under her command stood at the ready, waiting for her words. Midori sniffed and wiped her eyes. She then tapped her own radio.

"You're all a bunch of idiots," she heard her cracking voice say. "Do you really not know what wish I've had for all this time? Live, all of you. And find happiness in your lives."

The soldiers gaped at her, some taken aback by her words. Not because of her bluntness, they were all used to that and knew it was a sign of affection and respect that Midori spoke so unhesitatingly with them. Yet barely anyone in the regiment had conceived of the possibility that the wish they thought their commanding officer was working towards was not for her own betterment or happiness but theirs. A few even felt a slight sense of shame at that but it was quickly dwarfed by the pride and joy that it was one Midori Kayabuki, no, Mana Kirishima, that they had the privilege of serving under. One by one the soldiers physically present raised their hands in a salute. Major Terazaki Kudo however had the honor of responding for them all.

"Order acknowledged, Colonel."

* * *

When the call came Major-General Hiraga was not in his office. His staff did not have much difficulty redirecting the caller to where he was but it took a bit of time to set up a secure line seeing as the general was moving about. By the time the caller was connected his tone was sounding more than a little impatient.

"General Hiraga, I need to speak with you in person immediately."

"Vice-Minister Takaro, I'm afraid this is a somewhat inconvenient time," Hiraga replied. "I am currently engaged in another matter."

"Then make time!"

Hiraga raised an eyebrow, not that the Home affairs junior vice-minister could see it. Nevertheless the silence that followed was telling enough.

"Apologies general," Takaro said a few seconds later, his voice still tense but a bit more subdued. "That was uncalled for. A matter however has come to my attention that requires immediate action. Tallying could well put our nation, no, our world in grave danger."

Hiraga frowned. Now this was unexpected. Takaro was not one of SEELE's direct pawns so he was unlikely to be trying to run interference even if he knew what Hiraga was about to do. Hiroto Ikari did have the minister of Home Affair's ear but the SEELE councilman was ensconced in his bunker while the rest of the Japanese cabinet was holed up at the prime minister's residence awaiting news from the JSSDF. Which raised the question of just exactly what the junior vice-minister of the Home Affairs Ministry was doing calling a JSDF general such as himself. Hiraga decided to follow a hunch.

"Does this involve Inspector Kaji's murder?"

Another brief pause. "Yes, it does. May I ask how you guessed that?"

"Colonel Kayabuki passed on some, disturbing information to me very recently," Hiraga said. "She is the UN regimental colonel but previously-"

"She was a battalion commander in the JSSDF, yes I know of her," Takaro said. The sound of a deep breath could be heard. "General, I believe I can trust you, so I will be frank. Yesterday I received an encrypted disk that Inspector Kaji had prearranged to see delivered to me in case he should, be murdered. It took us a while to determine the correct decryption key but after we were able to read it, we found some, extraordinary claims. Claims that I can scarcely believe. But the, evidence the inspector provided to support his claims cannot be ignored and I am very concerned that if we do not act upon these claims, the world as we know it may be no more."

Even as Takaro spoke Hiraga was busy consulting with the rest of the collective about how best to handle this. Kaji managing to slip something out to his superiors had always been a possibility but not one with good enough odds that the collective had done much to try to account for it in their plans. Now that it looked like the man really did have an insurance policy beyond what he was intending to give Misato they needed to adapt.

"Vice-Minister," Hiraga said very carefully. "Why come to me?"

"Because you have shown considerable integrity," Takaro said, "and because Inspector Kaji believed you, out of all the senior officers, to be trustworthy."

That was not entirely true from many perspectives, Hiraga knew, but in this case he was the best person Takaro could have contacted even if the vice-minister did not know this.

"Where are you right now, Vice-Minister?"

"In my car heading to to the JGSDF base. I was coming to speak with you."

Hiraga looked out at the soldiers preparing to deploy. "I have an alternate recommendation, Mr. Vice-Minister. Head to the prime minister's office, I will meet you there."

"The Prime Minister's office?" came the confused response.

"Colonel Kayabuki has managed to provide me with additional intelligence since Inspector Kaji's murder," Hiraga said. "I am headed to the Prime Minister's residence to verify their validity."

The roar of engines filled the air though whether that played any part in Takaro's momentary silence was an open question.

"General," he finally said. "The, complicity of members of the cabinet remains unconfirmed."

"You yourself have said that tallying may well endanger the world," Hiraga replied. "And seeing as the JSSDF have been ordered to assault NERV with orders to offer no quarter, and it was JSSDF forces that murdered Inspector Kaji, I can only assume that the highest echelons of our government is involved. Such actions I cannot ignore, especially in men entrusted with the governing of our nation."

Another telling pause. "General, how is it that you know this much?"

"You were not the only one provided with an encrypted payload Mr. Vice-Minister," Hiraga lied, "though mine did not come from the honorable inspector."

"Who then?" Takaro pressed.

"Fuyutsuki Kozo," Hiraga said, laying the first step to the rehabilitation of the man's reputation. "He was murdered by Commander Ikari after protesting Ikari's intentions."

One final pause. "I shall see you at the Prime Minister's residence, General."

* * *

In their overconfidence SEELE had deployed the EVA carriers without any fighter escorts. As such they were easy pickings for the squadrons of fighters that pounced upon them. Destruction of their carriers however did not neutralize the MP EVAs themselves. From the burning wreckage their serpentine form emerged, massive white wings erupting from their back and catching air. New targets visible, the fighters engaged without hesitation and more missiles filled the air. Each impact blew apart a little more of the EVAs yet they seemed completely unfazed. And then the EVAs snapped about, their sluggish movements gone as they began the hunt. Despite their smaller size the fighters found their enemy keeping pace. A few of the older planes even found themselves outmaneuvered. And then the EVAs opened their mouths. The screech that ripped through the air sent chills to the very depths of each and every man and woman that heard it.

A signal dropped as an EVA finally caught up to its prey. With a single gesture it ripped the fighter in half. A brief scream was cut off as the EVA shoved the cockpit into its mouth. The rest was left to litter to the blue waters below. More fighters were overcome even as their comrades swore vengeance. Bullets joined missiles, smashing through armor and shredding flesh. Yet nothing seemed to deter the EVAs, each attacker only seeming to draw the attention of one of the monstrosities.

Finally one by one the survivors peeled away, making a run for it in obvious reluctance. Those that hesitated too long soon lost their chance and as the last of the fighters either fell or escaped the EVAs were left momentarily alone. That did not last long however as cruise missiles roared onto the scene. Each one homed into their would-be victim unerringly. Massive explosions marked their successes but even these seemed fruitless. The damage inflicted disappeared within moments as the EVAs simply regenerated any and all wounds. The limits of their seeming invulnerability was soon put to the test however as a singular warhead followed on the heels of its lesser brethren.

The N2 warhead was a remarkable piece of technology, an early application of practical antimatter containment. The amount of energy that a matter-antimatter annihilation reaction could unleash was immense and beyond the initial release of gamma radiation produced no lingering radioactivity. That this product of modern science was an instrument of war was not entirely surprising and simply followed the precedent set by nuclear technology in the previous century. The destruction it wrought however was no less horrific.

For a moment the sky was filled with a miniature sun, a light of such intensity that it seemed to consume all it touched. Beyond that light was a broiling force that smashed through the air, burning and ripping as it swept outward. As the brightness receded to the point where mere mortal eyes might yet be cast upon the sky the charred forms of the nine EVAs plummeted from the sky. Then, as if sneering at the efforts of such insignificant humans, new flesh consumed what had been charred and the EVAs slowed their descent towards the earth. One by one they sprouted wings once more and dove with purpose towards a singular point. Beyond the horizon in that direction the Pacific Fleet waited.

"I think we pissed them off," O'Connell said dryly.

"Those things took an N2 warhead head on," the other officer said in horror. "Just what kind of monsters are they!?"

"Monsters meant for ending the world," O'Connell said. "The president was right. Even if we can't stop them, we can at least slow them down. Missile ships, commence bombardment. All ships, weapons are free. The moment they're in range let 'em have it."

"What about another N2 strike sir?"

O'Connell shook his head. "Not at the rate they're closing. And besides, I want every warhead we have left for Delta Zero."

The other officer's eyes widened but he then nodded in understanding. O'Connell's mustache twitched as he flashed a wiry smile.

"If all else fails, I want Delta Zero to have the best shot we can manage to take those bastards with us."

"Understood sir. And sir? It's been an honor."

O'Connell chuckled. "That it has Mr. Scott, that it has."

The minutes ticked away but the fleet was not idle. Every cruise missile in the fleet was soon in the air and the EVAs were treated to a near constant bombardment as they approached. Few managed direct hits but here and there one got close enough to slightly stun an EVA, allowing others to hone in and deliver their payload more directly. Even so, the EVAs regenerated so quickly the damage never seemed to be more than superficial.

Gunfire soon joined in, their contributions barely being noticed by the EVAs. One suddenly folded its wings and dove, smashing into a destroyer on the fringe of the formation. The ship snapped in half and quickly began to sink. The EVA pushed off, hoping over to another ship. This time its impact was not nearly as great but this did not save the ship. The EVA smashed through the superstructure, its hand emerging with a bloody pulp. To the horror of those watching the EVA's mouth opened and it eagerly lapped up its bounty.

The other EVAs quickly emulated this, pouncing on warships and tearing them apart to get at the crew. Screams flooded the radios and even gunfire could be heard as the desperate men and women fought for their lives. And then _Over the Rainbow_ shuddered as one of the EVAs landed upon its deck. O'Connell found himself thrown across the bridge and the displays in the room flickered or died outright. One however showed the EVA in all its horrific form, grinning as it approached the island tower. And then something smashed into its head, slicing through so quickly that the gush of flesh and blood was just erupting as a massive geyser of water rose aside the ship.

The other EVAs looked up to identify this new threat only to fall victim to the same weapon as dense rods of tungsten smashed into them. At least one ship suffered equal if not greater damage than the EVA that was blown off it but to the men and women of the Pacific Fleet even this was better than the horror they had just been spared from.

"Incoming contact! My god, it's huge!"

O'Connell pulled himself back up to his feet and gazed at the radar. The rating was right, whatever was approaching them was truly massive. In fact it easily dwarfed _Over the Rainbow_ by at least an order of magnitude. It was also firing, raining down bolts of metal that were actually hurting the EVAs, inflicting such trauma that those monsters were actually struggling to respond.

"We have visual!"

The contact was still far away but even so it was quickly filling up the screen.

"What in the world is that?" O'Connell said.

"It, has wings," another officer observed. "It almost looks like, a giant seagull? With rockets strapped on?"

The admiral found that in truth he was hard pressed to find a better description. The main body was fat and wide while the head tapered into a kind of beak. Two massive pylons were mounted parallel to the head and it was from those that this, flying ship, rained destruction upon the EVAs.

"UN Pacific Fleet, this is Captain Timofey Suvorov commanding the Autonomous Assault Ark _Wunder_," a male voice announced over the radio. "Apologies for our late arrival. You have our sincere gratitude and respect for having held against the MP EVAs for this long. We shall not let your sacrifices be in vain."

"Colonel, primary cannon is charged and we have target acquisition," a female voice could be heard saying in the background.

"Fire."

A bright light erupted from the _Wunder's_ beak and suddenly one of the EVAs was caught in a stream of intense energy. The creature screamed, this time in pain instead of rage as its body literally melted under the bombardment. The water that it had just been submerged in moments before simply disappeared, vaporized so quickly that steam did not even form. It took mere seconds for the EVA's armor to completely disappear and little more before the flesh was similarly stripped clean. The men and women of the fleet had mere moments to catch sight of the skeletal frame and the blood red core before it cracked. They barely noticed the pillar of that marked the death of the EVA, so greatly did the ion beam overshadow any other light.

The other EVAs screeched at the death of their brother, a cry that was a mix of rage yet also terror. Rage that one of them had fallen. Terror that such a thing was possible. Even their primitive, feral intellect could grasp when their own mortality was upon them. One by one they leapt into the air and unfolded their wings once more, seeking to flee the battlefield in the hope that they may yet fulfill their purpose. _Wunder_ and the depleted remnants of the UN fleet were not so accommodating and poured fire upon the retreating forms. One staggered, its wings slowly being torn to shreds by the combined weight of fire. Then a railgun round found it, smashing through its back and sending the EVA crashing into the ocean. The waters offered no refuge as _Wunder_ aligned itself. The ion cannon was unleashed for the second time this day, vaporizing the EVA's form and joining its light with the death pyre of the abomination.

* * *

"They've taken down two of the EVA series," Soren suddenly said.

"What? How do you know," Misato began but cut herself off. "Oh, right, your collective consciousness."

"The remaining units will be here within the hour," Soren continued. "_Wunder_ will need another hour after that to reach us."

"Seven to one odds in their favor," Amanda said. "But this time we know exactly how to fight those bastards."

Soren nodded. "We still need to deal with the JSSDF. I would rather there not be any witnesses not on our side."

The JSSDF forces assaulting NERV was greatly reduced from their initial order of battle. Before their destruction the Tridents had accounted for two of the enemy armored battalions and a good chunk of the enemy artillery. A third tank battalion had actually been caught in the N2 strike, apparently the JSSDF not getting any more warning than NERV's own forces. That meant the two sides had effective parity in numbers when it came to armor, though the Type-74s that made up the remaining JSSDF battalion were easily outclassed by the Challenger 2s under Kayabuki's command. There were a couple of tank destroyers still rolling around but not nearly enough to meaningfully tip the scales in the enemy's favor.

Infantry on the other hand was a different story. Unable to secure entry into the Geofront, the enemy commander had held back his foot soldiers and estimates put them at four to five battalions worth just waiting to swarm NERV. Even now they were launching probes through the myriad of tunnels that ran through HQ but the contingency plans Kayabuki had drawn up were doing their job and the JSSDF had yet to breach the perimeter defenses. However with only two battalions of infantry herself, the colonel simply did not have the manpower to take the fight to the enemy and her own tanks were forced to sit tight guarding the major entry points into HQ proper.

"Is the regiment going to have to slug it out with what's left of the JSSDF?" Misato asked. "My tac ops teams should at least be able to hold HQ."

Soren shook his head. "Colonel Kayabuki's forces will remain where they are. We have something special planned for the JSSDF."

Misato frowned. "Something special?"

"In many timelines the JSSDF successfully stormed the Geofront and executed every single person they came across," Soren said. "The, memory, lingers for many of the collective."

"In a word, they want payback," Amanda said. "And I for one am perfectly happy to give it to them."

Misato regarded her friend carefully. There was no hesitation in Amanda's eyes, no regret at the coming bloodbath. In fact there was an eagerness. Perhaps Amanda's own timeline was one that saw the JSSDF butcher the people of NERV. Regardless it was obvious the collective intended to show no mercy to the soldiers even now seeking to break into HQ. Something told Misato that none would actually step foot within Central Dogma alive.

* * *

Outside beyond the crater of what used to be Tokyo-3 Major General Suzaku looked at the devastation grimly. Despite the destruction of the Geofront's topside the 597th Regiment was still putting up a ferocious fight. It was almost as if they had known that the N2 warhead was headed there way and evacuated the upper levels before it arrived. While the four accursed Trident clones had been removed from play, too many of Suzaku's own troops had been caught in the blast. That should not have happened, he was supposed to have been given enough time to pull his own forces out after sending the launch request. Now thanks to the warhead his own forces were in a much depleted state.

"General, our tanks are reporting extremely heavy resistance," an officer reported. "The enemy's dug in and every attempt to maneuver around them simply runs into another strongpoint."

"Reinforce the tank companies with our IFVs," Suzaku ordered. "Their guns may not do much, but they still possess some anti-armor capabilities."

"Yes sir."

"Sir, above us!"

Looking up, Suzaku cursed as a mass of shadows passed overhead. Even from this distance he could make out the tiny forms that were spilling out behind the planes.

"What is going on?" Suzaku demanded.

"Those, those look like the American stratosphere jumpjets!" one of Suzaku's staffers said as he gazed up with a set of binoculars.

"The Americans?" the general said in distaste.

Like many Japanese nationalists Suzaku seethed at the pacifism the United States had imposed upon Japan after the end of the Pacific War. That they dared to once more despoil his homeland with their footsteps was an affront he would not forgive.

"All surviving anti-air units are to target their paratroopers," Suzaku ordered. "We'll slaughter them before they touch down our sacred soil!"

"Yes sir-sir! Their paratroopers aren't slowing down!"

"What!?"

High in the skies the lead elements of the 101st Airborne Division plummeted from their respective planes. Each wore large packs of some sort on their back but what snapped out were not parachutes but wings. Catching air, they made a rapid but controlled descent. They circled ever downward, easily evading the clusters of JSSDF soldiers. Sporadic fire rose up to greet them but few were downed. Even those that lost their wings managed to resort to their last ditch parachutes to avoid a fatal drop. As it were the Japanese forces were unable to inflict any disabling casualties, much less fatalities, on the drop troops.

The companies of the 101st made landfall in tight clusters of exactly three hundred each, save for the unit that General Sebastian Adams was accompanying personally. Each soldier wore a suit of powered armor with protection heavy enough to defend against most small arms and light weapons. If they were lucky they might even survive a glancing hit from heavy weapons fire.

"All units report in," General Adams ordered.

"Alpha Company all accounted for."

"Beta Company ready."

"Gamma Company standing by."

"Alright," Adams said, adjusting his helmet. "Remember we only have three hours of power in the batteries. We came here to do a job, so let's get to it."

"Sir!"

The nine hundred some Screaming Eagles thundered their response and charged into the field. They struck without warning, overrunning the nearest JSSDF units in mere moments. Their opponents did not even have time to react, gunned down with a brutal efficiency. Rounds simply glanced off the Americans' armor and explosions barely gave them pause. The fire that answered proved far more lethal.

"Squads 2, 4, no, the entire 5th Platoon has been wiped out!" the communications officer cried out in a panic.

"Damn it, pull our IFVs back to provide support!" Suzaku ordered.

The Type 89s that were just preparing to join up with the JSSDF's remaining tanks reversed directions and raced back to their original positions. Their heavier caliber guns should have helped level the odds assuming they made it in time but the speed with which the 101st cut through the Japanese lines was hard to believe. Dozens fell under their onslaught, then the numbers climbed into the hundreds. Nothing the JSSDF threw at the soldiers seemed to faze them, opening fire simply served as an invitation for mass retribution.

"Sir, enemy IFVs approaching," a subordinate reported to Adams.

"Deploy two platoons for hard target interdiction," Adams ordered.

"Aye sir!"

The powered armor of the 101st provided not only exceptional protection for their wearers, they also allowed them to carry far greater loads. Thus the anti-material rifles carried by the 101st were substantially larger, heavier, and more powerful than the Barrett M82 that was the standard for US forces. That power was now on full display as the platoons designated for the interdiction order let loose, punching through the weak points of the approaching IFVs. One by one the JSSDF Type 89s ground to a halt, more than one a smoldering wreck as ammo and munitions cooked off. Crew bailed out but found no reprieve as other sharpshooters picked them off. A few tried frantically to surrender, throwing up their arms. None actually succeeded, all dying just short of signaling their concession.

"We've lost the entire forward battalion," Suzaku's aide said in stunned disbelief.

"Those bastards," Suzaku muttered. "Have they no honor?"

Further away a similar observation was being made albeit with a different conclusion.

"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," Alpha Company's commanding officer noted dryly. "Almost doesn't seem fair."

Adams snorted. "Since when has the US military ever been stupid enough to invite a fair fight, captain?"

"True enough. No real military would. Probably isn't stopping the other side from bitching about it."

The general grunted and turned his attention back to the battle. His interdiction platoons were getting to work on the enemy tanks, having run out of Type 89s to snipe. It was a sad testament to the completely obsolete nature of the Type 74s that not even they were able to withstand the fire laid down by the 101st. The only thing that redeemed them in the slightest was their high explosive rounds finally beginning to inflict casualties upon the Americans. Even so this was a case of too little too late as the last JSSDF tank battalion found itself under attack from multiple sides. These met even more spectacular ends than the Type 89s as their larger number of explosive rounds fell victim to pinpoint hits from afar. The crews that were able to ditch in time were few and far in between. They were granted no more mercy than their compatriots before them.

By the end of the hour the JSSDF existed in name only. In an almost twisted reversal they were the ones that were given no quarter, no mercy, and no chance to lay down their arms and surrender. Fully half of the 101st Airborne were men and women of the collective and even if few had directly experienced the massacre at NERV HQ in their prime timeline, the combined memories were as raw to them as to the former NERV personnel amongst them. No prisoners were taken, no wounded extended aid. By all rights these men and women were committing a crime nearly as heinous as that the JSSDF had intended but the collective was methodical and exacting. Every execution was performed by one of them, every act of cold blooded murder carried out by someone who would soon pay the ultimate price themselves. And thus in this way was the JSSDF cut down to the last until only Suzaku and his command staff remained.

Even the major general found himself horrified at the massacre visited upon his troops. True enough he was preparing to do the same against NERV only hours ago but a part of him had never conceived that anyone else would have the strength of will to carry out such necessary acts. That it was an American division, those self-proclaimed stalwarts of freedom and liberty that so loved to preach about the sanctity of life, was an even greater blow. Like so many of his fellows Suzaku had been so certain that the Japanese way was pure and singular, that it created men of action that would lead the world through example and force of will. Now however reality was demonstrating the folly of this belief, that there were indeed others that could act with even greater conviction than he. Suzaku gripped his sword. He knew what his sense of duty demanded after such a disgrace. The blade was unsheathed without hesitation.

"General!"

For a moment Suzaku thought his subordinate might yet be preparing to plead with him, to try to convince him to not take his own life. The thought touched him slightly even as the general knew the only answer he could give. And then explosions ripped through the command center, consuming those last few that stood at Suzaku's side. The general felt a great anguish arise as he realized that the Americans were not even going to let him end his own life in honor. They insisted that he die by their hands, victim to their cold and graceless weapons. It was the last thought he ever had.

End of Chapter 44

Yes, the JSSDF just got curbstomped by three companies of Spartans. Yes a sidestepper led them. I hope it was satisfying.

And the regiment's morale booster shows up once again. In case anyone has not gotten the hint yet, the Cipher Cranes are my stand-in for Ciphas Cain.

A couple of notes. First, technically Franklin had no legal authority to deploy an army division overseas like this. There are all sorts of legal hoops that theoretically could be jumped to justify this, but normally the only force that the president can deploy overseas without prior authorization from Congress are the Marines. Said Marines are, busy elsewhere however and the sidesteppers decided to focus on one particular division in the US army to serve as their iron fist when the time came.

Second, I'm doing a minor retcon. I had the JSSDF and the regiment use American hardware for their IFVs. I'm switching all of that over to the native Japanese Type 89. At the time I started I had not thought to bother looking up with the JSDF actually used but as I was editing this chapter I felt a bit off having Bradleys rolling around and so did some digging. The tanks the regiment uses will remain European but the tanks used by the JSSDF will be Japanese. I've corrected this in my master draft and may in the future fix up the previously posted chapters to reflect this. It's a minor thing, but I thought it would help with the authenticity a bit more.

I was debating heavily how I wanted to do the submarine scenes. I ultimately decided that I did not know enough about how submarines, especially nuclear attack subs, actually work to write a long scene of _Seawolf_ hunting _Alabama_ convincingly and so I cut it short. I don't exactly know anyone who's served on a SSN that I could ask, assuming they could even tell me anything. Had it gone on longer, I likely would have split this chapter. As it is we're almost at 8000 words, minus the notes.

I suppose there is something of a political subtext to the JSSDF getting their asses handed to them. At a personal level I'm not terribly found of nationalists. And I hold a very fine distinction between patriotism and nationalism. A nationalist is unwilling to admit the mistakes his country makes and more often than not helps accelerate his country's decline. A patriot understands that his country can be in the wrong and that it achieves greatness not by anything inherent in the country but because the people of said country earnestly work toward it and fix the problems that inevitably appear. The JSSDF as I have portrayed them are nationalists of the right wing vein that dominated Japan during its modern era. I have no regrets about having them stomped into the ground.

At this point the sidesteppers have shown most of their hand. There are still a few others however and they will be put into play next chapter. I expect to wrap up the battle there, then another chapter dealing with the aftermath, and then I think at this point three prologues. Maybe four. Why so many will become clearer when they're out.

I'm not quite clear why one needs to know a thing about quantum mechanics to understand the explanations about the multiverse and what the sidesteppers are doing. Most of the phrasing they use are based on the idea of waves and the notion of constructive and destructive interference. That's high school level physics at worst.

Anyway, drop a review of what you all think so far. The next few chapters may take a while to get out simply because I'm out of pre-canned stuff and will need to spend time actually writing it out instead of simply editing and slightly lengthening existing drafts. And of course the alternation between this and _A Cold Calculus._ Of course, more feedback might spur me along. Hinthint nudgenudge.


	46. Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Endspiel

It was with remarkable clarity that Asuka awoke, the girl feeling none of the grogginess and confusion one might have expected for someone in her circumstances. Nevertheless she still stared at the ceiling for several minutes before registering a couple of things. First, she could feel the pressure of the sheets covering her up and the mattress she laid upon. There was still no sense of warmth or coolness, just a pressure, but she could actually feel them. Second, she did feel some warmth. The source was her right hand and as the girl turned her head she saw a beaming Shinji gazing down at her.

"Good morning Asuka," his voice cracked.

"Shinji," Asuka whispered before allowing a slight smile of her own. "Looks like you're turning into a man."

Behind his tears of joy followed tears of laughter even as Shinji refrained from outright responding to his girlfriend's teasing. He brought her hand up and gave it a kiss, a tender motion that Asuka allowed herself to enjoy for a few moments before adopting a business-like expression on her face.

"What's happened."

The boy grimaced as he considered how best to break everything to Asuka. The loss of her EVA was going to be bad enough but revealing the truth about Amanda and Soren was going to be even harder. Revealing that they would soon be gone, the hardest yet.

"What do you remember, Asuka?" Shinji temporalized, though knowing what the last thing the girl remembered was would help him choose where to start the explanation.

Asuka frowned in irritation. "I remember burning. I remember something happening to my EVA." Her grip tightened. "Shinji. What happened to my EVA."

Despite his impulse Shinji did not look away from Asuka and held her gaze. He would not run away now, he could not.

"It's, gone," Shinji finally said. "They say my father rigged it to self-destruct, to try to murder you to draw a reaction from me."

It took Asuka a moment to register the salient points. At an instinctive level she already knew that Unit 02 was no more, there could have been no other explanation for the sensations she felt during the battle. Yet she had dared hope that her instincts were wrong, that her EVA was still waiting for her. Asuka's face twisted in grief. That mama's spirit would still be there to protect her. And then the second part of Shinji's answer hit her. The one responsible, the one who destroyed her EVA and nearly killed her in the process, was Shinji's father.

"Oh Shinji," she whispered.

Asuka tried to rise but despite her clear headedness her body still felt heavy. Shinji however reached out and pulled Asuka into an embrace.

"I'm sorry Asuka," the boy said softly. "This was my fault. My father wanted me to push Unit 01 to its limits, to repeat what happened with Zeruel. I-"

A sharp pain ran through the boy's side as Asuka jabbed him with her free arm.

"Stop apologizing for something that isn't your fault," Asuka grated. "You're not your father, you didn't do this to me. And don't you dare think about leaving me over this. I lost mama. I lost my EVA. And I even lost that Angel. I am not losing you."

"Never," Shinji promised. "I will never leave you."

The boy held Asuka in his arms for several moments longer before releasing her. With her now up Shinji helped prop up her pillow so that she could remain in a sitting pose.

"A lot of other things have also happened," Shinji said after the girl had settled in. "A lot."

Asuka nodded for him to continue. And so the boy did, explaining that the last Angel had been dealt with discretely by Soren, the real goal driving the EVA project and SEELE, and finally the truth about Amanda and Soren. For the initial topics Asuka seemed to accept Shinji's explanations with remarkable ease. When Shinji began talking about Amanda and Soren however the girl froze and not a word left her until Shinji himself finished speaking. Not long after shouting could be heard outside the ward as Asuka demanded to be taken to see her mentors. Efforts to placate and dissuade the fiery redhead by both Shinji and the Section-2 detail watching over the two pilots proved fruitless. Five minutes after the yelling started the girl was being helped down to the EVA cages where Soren was. The German man momentarily considered beating a hasty retreat but ultimately remained until his prized protégé and surrogate daughter arrived. By then he was already in the black plugsuit tailored to help him complete one last task.

* * *

The soldiers that stepped into NERV's secondary command center easily towered over everyone else thanks to the powered armor they wore, forcing Misato to look up at the man that now stood before her. As was appropriate she saluted the ranking officer present.

"Brigadier-General Misato Katsuragi," Misato introduced herself, "director of NERV-Tokyo."

"Major-General Sebastian Adams," the man did likewise, "CO of the 101st Airborne." The general looked about. "You have a good crew, General Katsuragi."

Misato smiled. "That I do." And more softly. "Would that be from firsthand experience?"

Adams snorted, confirming Misato's guess. He glanced over at the operators, specifically at a relatively long haired man diligently minding his station. Misato chuckled.

"Are you still in the indie scene, general?"

"My carefree youth is sadly far behind me," Adams said with a twinkle in his eye. "Nevertheless, I have hope for the generation following."

"As do I," Misato agreed. "I trust your forces are being looked after?"

Adams nodded. "Fortunately we suffered only light casualties, no fatalities. The JSSDF was, poorly equipped to fight a mechanized force such as ours."

Both Amanda and Misato snorted at the understatement. Technically no one was truly prepared to face a fighting force like the 101st seeing as the powered armor was a secret development of Morgenroete. Combined with all of the other toys the company had in the wings and the world would never be quite the same again.

"I trust the equipment we brought is helping with reestablishing contact with the outside world?" Adams asked.

"Let's find out," Misato said as she turned towards the operators herself.

"External communication has been restored," Hyuga reported right on cue. "And, we're getting incoming transmissions from the US, somewhere over the Pacific, and Germany."

"Put them through," Misato said.

Three images appeared on the main projection showing a variety of people. Front and center was President Kavan Franklin in what looked to be a command and control center. To the left was Major-General Margaret Klinge in a similarly appointed room. The man on the right Misato did not recognize, nor could she make out exactly where he was besides the fact that the chair he was seated in did not look like something one would find in a normal office. Both Amanda and Adams snapped to attention and saluted followed quickly by the other officers present. The three being projected likewise returned the courtesy.

"I believe the only one needing an introduction here would be the good colonel," Amanda said after lowering her hand. "Misato, this is Colonel Timofey Suvorov, operations chief of Tabgha Base and commanding officer of the Autonomous Assault Ark _Wunder_."

Misato looked at the man quizzically. "And who would you happen to be really?"

Timofey smirked. "A boy that had a childish crush you on. That ring any bells?"

To be frank that could have fit a lot of people but as Misato considered the name only one candidate seemed to match.

Suzuhara Toji, she mouthed silently. The colonel nodded ever so slightly.

"Well, I see you've grown up to be quite a responsible man," Misato said playfully.

"My thanks, General Katsuragi," Timofey replied.

Amanda cleared her throat. "We've still got work to do here. Generalmajor, if you would?"

"I have confirmation that all kill teams are in position," Klinge said. "Herr Lorenz is going to be the toughest nut to crack, about what we expected, but we're leaving him to you anyway."

Amanda nodded.

"Endgame is also ready to go," Klinge went on. "Our signal will override all channels and we should have basically 99% coverage. The only places that won't be watching the broadcast will be those places that don't get any other signal to begin with."

"Broadcast?" Misato interjected.

Klinge grinned. "We're going to air SEELE's dirty laundry on air." And then the expression turned grim. "And we'll be showing the world that they won't have to worry about any SEELE moles remaining behind in positions of authority."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Misato asked.

"We will be exploiting SEELE's paranoia to our advantage," Franklin answered, drawing attention to himself. "SEELE always considered the human element to be the greatest weakness in their plans and so installed what is effectively a kill switch in all of their tier 1 and tier 2 assets, assets such as myself and the Major-General."

Misato's eyes widened. Hers were not the only ones as the operators also in the command center heard the president's explanation.

"Technically only the full council possesses the ability to activate the kill switch, but we managed to break the cipher on it," Klinge continued for the president. "At a time of our choosing, we can eliminate all of SEELE's moles in governments, businesses, and NGOs worldwide."

"It will be a decapitating blow," Amanda said, "a minimum of loose ends."

Having spoken up Amanda now found herself the center of attention in the command center.

"But, aren't you considered a tier 1 asset by SEELE?" Ritsuko gave voice to what everyone else was thinking.

Amanda smiled mirthlessly. "That's right. And so is Soren. And the Generalmajor, and the major-general here, and the president."

Eyes widened further all around.

"But that would mean-" Hyuga began.

The man was cut off by an anguished strangle of a sound from Maya. No one needed more than a moment to realize just what elicited the reaction from the young woman as they recalled that one Keitaro Aramaki had also come forth as a member of the anti-SEELE conspiracy. A member who as far as SEELE knew was loyal to them. Amanda grimaced.

"I am sorry," she said to the younger woman, "but the kill switch is universal. There is not a way to selectively activate it."

Maya looked as if she might hyperventilate. The woman shot up from her station and looked pleadingly at Misato.

"Go," Misato said without hesitation.

Maya needed no further permission and bolted out the room. Ritsuko watched her young assistant disappear before turning to face Amanda.

"And you waited until now to let us know about something that important?" she demanded.

"All of us are guilty of some crime against humanity," Amanda stated. "What does it matter whether we die now or are executed later?"

"Are you serious!?" Ritsuko said incredulously. "After everything all of you have done, getting a pardon would be child's play."

"Even if we were given one we would not accept it," Franklin said, reminding everyone of his presence. "No, we must admit to our guilt, otherwise the world would never heal. Too many have suffered and lost loved ones due to Second Impact and the horrors that followed. We will atone for our sins and answer for our crimes."

A tense silence descended upon the room. Ritsuko looked over at Misato expecting her friend to protest this, only to find the other woman with her eyes closed in seeming acceptance. She frowned. That seemed off, of all the people here Misato likely believed in the concept of redemption even more than Amanda. So why did she accept this so easily? What did she know?

"General Reimer," Hyuga began, breaking the silence and suddenly becoming the focus of everyone's attention, much to the man's chagrin, "he once said to us. You cannot atone for your sins by dying. But you can try to make things right while you're still alive."

An eyebrow rose on Klinge's face and an amused smile on Timofey's. The president however regarded the young captain with an approving nod.

"There is truth in those words," he said, "but this has never been about whether we live or die. The kill switch SEELE created does not discriminate and we had more pressing matters than trying to disable it. But there is another reason we intend to activate it. Despite all of our efforts in neutralizing SEELE's many assets we unfortunately were not able to get to all of them."

"There're a couple of big ones missing," Amanda said. "_Virginia_, the US nuclear attack sub, is one that's still out there."

Franklin nodded, causing grimaces to appear on many faces. Still at least it was a SSN and not a ballistic missile sub on the loose.

"The big one however is the last Adams," Klinge said. "We had expected it to be amongst the EVA series, acting as a backup trigger for Instrumentality."

The general glanced over to Timofey from her own projection. The colonel's face twisted in displeasure.

"It wasn't there," Timofey said. "The nine that were deployed were all of the standard model. SEELE's obviously holding the last Adams in reserve."

"And if it isn't amongst the EVA series, it is out of our hands to kill," Amanda said. "With it still around there remains a risk that someone could attempt to trigger Instrumentality, even if the chances of success would be miniscule. But this places an even greater urgency in us neutralizing everyone who might have reason and the knowledge to attempt it."

Ritsuko felt her insides go cold as she looked at Amanda.

"You said, anyone with the knowledge to attempt it," the doctor said.

"I was responsible for tagging you with the kill switch," Amanda said. "That was the only reason I was able to swap it out for a fake." The German woman smiled wirily. "And I have faith that you have no desire for Instrumentality."

Relief washed over Ritsuko before guilt overtook it. After all what Amanda was saying was that not only had she seen to it that Ritsuko herself would be spared the coming purge even though Amanda and her husband would not be, she had faith in her friend to not abuse the opportunity. Amanda however smiled gently at her as if to reassure the doctor that she did not need to feel ashamed.

"We will have decapitated SEELE and crippled its network of agents," Amanda continued, "but we will not have cleaned up every single loose end. That will be the responsibility of all of you here."

The operators and other personnel regarded Amanda with no small amount of awe. All of them had grown to respect Amanda over the past few months, not only for her dedication in seeing to their personal welfare but also in her diligent care over the pilots. Now, after learning that everything the woman had done was in service of an even greater cause than they could have imagined, it pained them all to find out that Amanda would not be there with them to share in the victory. But that victory would not be the end, for Amanda had laid down one more charge upon them, a charge that all vowed they would meet at all costs.

A beep sounded on Hyuga's terminal and the man looked at the alert. "We, we have unidentified incoming, seven signatures."

"The EVA series," Amanda said before walking over to a terminal and opening a channel. "Soren, they're here. It's show time."

"Acknowledged," the German man responded. "Prepare to deploy Unit 01."

Amanda looked up at the three projected faces and saluted. "Mr. President, Generalmajor, Colonel. I will see you on the other side."

The three returned it before their images winked out. Everyone knew that what they just witnessed was a farewell. None had the heart to say anything else.

* * *

The technicians working to prepare Unit 01 for one last sortie all froze when the blast doors opened to review two teens standing in the doorway. Shinji Ikari looked about apologetically but the girl in his arms, Asuka Langley Shikinami, was focused on one thing and one thing only. One could not really describe her gaunt at stomping over but that was the impression it gave as she approached the German man in the black plugsuit. Soren turned to face the redhead and waited patiently.

"Maestro," Asuka declared once before him.

"Fraulein," Soren replied with his usual stoicism.

The two stared at each other for several moments before Asuka's composure crumbled.

"You lied to me!" the girl screamed, causing everyone save for the target of her wrath to wince. "You damn well lied to me! All those years, treating me like a little girl! You and Amanda both!"

"Asuka," Shinji began as he felt the girl shake in his arms.

"It is alright Herr Ikari," Soren said, preempting any further words from the boy. "The Fraulein is correct, I have lied to her. But she is also incorrect, for our relation was no lie."

Soren bent over till his eyes were level with Asuka's.

"Tell me, Fraulein, how did you regard me when you were a child?"

"What does it matter?" Asuka said, her voice raspy from the effort of holding back her tears. "None of it was real!"

"I assure you, it was quite real to me," Soren said. "When I first met you, you were a child in much need of love. Someone who knew pain far beyond what her years should have warranted. I saw myself in you, Fraulein, and I vowed that you would not walk the same path as I, that you would have a family even if I needed to be the one to give it to you."

Asuka stared at Soren silently, her glare still impressive but slowly softening.

"You are not Amanda," Soren said softly, "and you are certainly not the Asuka I knew. You are yourself, and someone whom I consider the daughter that I never had the chance to cherish. Everything I have given you, every lesson, every gift, every rebuke, are yours and yours alone. They were not intended for Amanda, or for Asuka, but for you. All I ask in return is that when you look at me, you see not Shinji, but me, Soren Reimer."

The glare disappeared to be replaced with absolute grief. Asuka pulled herself free from Shinji and threw her arms around the German man.

"But you're leaving me!" she cried. "You told Shinji that after this you're leaving! Why does everyone keep leaving me!?"

Soren closed his arms around Asuka and squeezed. "I may leave, but I do not leave you alone. Wilhelm and your stepmother will be there for you, and you have a sister who desperately wants your attention. Mari and Misato will also be by your side, and Shinji, well, I suppose he's about as acceptable of a man as a father can ever admit."

The tears did not stem as Asuka listened to Soren. She knew everything the man said was true, she knew intellectually that Soren had no choice in the matter. Nevertheless her heart bled as she contemplated a life without the German man to share with, a father figure who had for so many years been the only father that tried to serve the role. The tears would not end.

The PA crackled and Amanda's voice sounded. "Soren, they're here. It's show time."

Asuka stirred, tightening her grip over the German man.

"Acknowledged," Soren responded. "Prepare to deploy Unit 01."

Asuka looked up at him, eyes wide and almost shining from her tears. Soren smiled gently and placed a kiss on the girl's forehead.

"Be happy, Asuka," he said. He then pulled out of Asuka's embrace and guided her back over to the Third Child. "Herr Ikari. Kümmern sich um meine temperamentvoll Tochter."

Asuka flinched and her grip on Shinji tightened. As for the boy himself, this was the second someone had said those exact words to him. The first time he had only an inkling what they meant. Now, he knew exactly what was being said.

"Jawohl, Herr Reimer," the boy responded.

With one final nod Soren climbed up to the entry plug. It was time.

* * *

The JSDF troops that rolled through Tokyo-2 turned more than a few heads but beyond a few people taking photos with their cellphones the actual reaction was somewhat subdued. That changed quickly as the battalion took up positions around the prime minister's residence and the security detail responsible for protecting Japan's head of government realized something was very wrong. Then again with that many IFVs surrounding the place they knew that they were screwed if it actually came down to a standup fight.

The group that approached the building itself was not entirely composed of soldiers even if they formed the largest component. Walking next to Major-General Hiraga was the junior vice-minister of Home Affairs. This still looked like a coup in the works however, especially as the JSDF soldiers surrounded the guard positions and forcibly took control of all entryways before filtering into the residence. By the time Hiraga and Takaro entered the room where the prime minister and his cabinet were holed up all of the men within had at least some inkling of what was going on outside.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Hiraga greeted.

The prime minister frowned. "General Hiraga. Vice-Minister Takaro. What, is the meaning of this."

Takaro opened his mouth to speak but before he could make a sound Hiraga's rang with a boom. The gathered ministers cried out in shock and several hurriedly backed away in terror but no shots followed. The one shot was enough as the defense minister lay slumped against his chair with a bloody hole in his head.

"General! What are you doing!?" Takaro exclaimed.

"Amongst the men in this room, there are only degrees of guilt," Hiraga stated firmly. "Of those present, the prime minister is guilty of ordering the slaughter of all the men, women, and children of NERV. For that, the world will soon enough judge what your legacy will be. The minister of defense however is guilty of complicity in attempting to initiate Third Impact by convincing you of the necessity of sending in the JSSDF to seize NERV, and so I exact upon him the sanction that you approved for those suspected of that culpability, your excellency."

The old men gathered in the room stared at Hiraga as if the general was made. The prime minister was the first to regain his wits, probably because his attention was now focused on the gun now aimed at him. He resisted the urge to wipe the sweat now flowing across his brow.

"General, you are treading very dangerous ground here," the prime minister said. "Any reasonable man would regard your actions as tantamount to a coup."

"A mutiny at best," Hiraga said. "I have no intention of seizing any power, but I will not allow power to remain in the hands of those who have shown themselves so unsuited to wielding it."

Despite having the barrel of a gun in his face the prime minister glared at Hiraga. "And how exactly do you believe us to have failed in our duties?"

"Ikari Hiroto," Hiraga said simply. "Why is it that a man who possesses no mandate from the public wields such influence over the government? How is it that he could maneuver the JSSDF to murder a UN inspector? And how is that you let him talk you into ordering the murder of every man, woman, and child in NERV-Tokyo?"

It was the second time that the general had brought up that point and the prime minister was too smart a man not to get the implied point. As far as Hiraga was concerned, there was no justification for what the prime minister had attempted. As far as the general was concerned, he had taken the easy way out. But the prime minister was not entirely prepared to concede the moral high ground to Hiraga.

"And what of yourself, general?" he countered. "How many oaths have you violated to stage this, mutiny of yours?"

"More than you could ever know," Hiraga said nonchalantly. "But I will have kept the one oath that has actually mattered. I swear to ensure that humanity would see a new dawn and that new dawn has come. Pray, Mr. Prime Minister, that you and all your cohorts still have a place in it when this is over, for unlike myself and my compatriots you will remain to face the world's judgment for having nearly consigned humanity to extinction."

Fear and shock were giving way to confusion amongst the politicians and bureaucrats in the room. The prime minister looked at Hiraga quizzically.

"You imply that you know something about this entire affair that we do not," he stated.

"That I do," Hiraga said, and to the surprise of the others he picked up the remote and turned on the TV. "I will however let someone better placed explain the magnitude of your failure."

The general actually turned on two TVs, tuning them to two different channels. On one appeared the easily recognized public persona of Kavan Franklin, President of the United States of America. On the other, a woman in the gray uniform of the Bundeswehr that only a few within the room recognized to by Margaret Klinge, head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst.

"My fellow Americans," Franklin began.

"Brüder und Schwestern des Vaterlandes," Klinge said at the same time.

"To all of humanity."

"Um die gesamte Menschheit," Klinge echoed.

"I come before you this day to confess a sin, a sin that amounts to treason against all of mankind. For the past fifteen years we have been fed a litany of lies, lies that hid the truth about Second Impact, lies that hid the truth about the Angels, and lies that sought to sacrifice mankind as a whole to fulfill the ambitions of a few. For many years after Second Impact the world was told that it was a meteorite that struck Antarctica and destroyed the continent. Then five years ago the United Nations slowly revealed that it was in fact a previously undiscovered species native to Earth that triggered an energy reaction, one that vaporized Antarctica after humanity came into contact with it. The UN, or more specifically, the Committee for Human Instrumentality, claimed that this reaction awakened several additional creatures they then dubbed Angels, creatures that could cause a Third Impact if left unchecked.

"For the past half year these Angels have assaulted humanity, first attempting to breach the fortress city of Tokyo-3 and then launching attacks aimed at Germany and our own great nation. Every attack was defeated through the efforts of NERV, and the pilots of the massive constructs called the Evangelions. These victories have not come without cost however. When an Angel infected Evangelion Unit 04 and hijacked it, NERV was forced to destroy the EVA, maiming the pilot in the process. When Angel of Might appeared, it consumed Evangelion Unit 00 along with its pilot. And when the last Angel to engage the Evangelions struck, forces seeking to undermine NERV orchestrated the destruction of Unit 02 and nearly murdered its pilot in the process.

"In the end humanity triumphed despite the odds, defeating every Angel that rose to threaten our species. Yet on the eve of what should be our greatest victory, we face the greatest threat yet to the survival of the human race, our fellow man, for there is one thing that the Committee for Human Instrumentality has not revealed. The Committee was established not to ensure humanity's survival. Its members instead craved the power possessed by the Angels and sought to make it their own. They were the ones that orchestrated the awakening of the first Angel in Antarctica to cause Second Impact. They were the ones that manipulated all the nations of Earth into creating the Mass Production Evangelion Series, not for fighting the Angels, but for acquiring their power. And they were the ones that attempted to arrange the murder of the men, women, and _children_ of NERV, to remove the final impediment to their desired ascension."

Franklin took a deep breath, as did Klinge as she too paused in her speech. Both assumed a haunted look in their eyes when they opened them once more.

"I have broken many a vow in my effort to stop these madmen," the president continued. "I do not excuse my betrayals, I will not plea for clemency. Were I given a chance to reconsider any of my decisions again I would not change any choice I have made thus far. My only regret is that I will not live to face judgment for my crimes."

As Franklin closed his mouth a piece of skin fell from his face. And then another. And when the president held up his hand, bare muscle was visible. On the other screen Klinge was doing the same, revealing the peeling away of her own flesh. Horror was plastered all over the faces of the old men in the conference room but when one happened to glance over at General Hiraga he nearly leapt out of his seat. The motion drew the attention of the others and gasps sounded as they saw that Hiraga too was suffering the same degradation of his body. The general however paid the gawkers no mind, his own attention fixed on the TV showing Klinge's broadcast.

"To defeat the committee required being taken into their confidence," Franklin continued. "To be taken into their confidence required giving them certain assurances. For those of us who knew the committee's secret, that included a kill switch that would terminate us should they ever learn of our betrayal." The president smiled wirily. "I would say they know now. But I die with the knowledge that I will not go alone, for even as I speak men and women worldwide are assaulting the strongholds where these old men are hiding. They believed themselves invincible, hidden as they were behind their curtain of lies. But now the veil has been parted and they will answer for their crimes."

Franklin's left eye began to seemingly white out and the president closed it.

"To my fellow Americans, to my fellow humans," the president said with noticeable effort. "I ask not to be honored or celebrated for my actions. I only ask that you not waste this new dawn that has been wrought."

The broadcast cut off and the sound of a slumping body drew the attention of everyone in the room. They looked over to see Hiraga's still form in one of the chairs. The general's eyes were closed.

* * *

Soren did not pay much mind to the broadcast that was being played over the PA. Instead he focused on opening himself to Unit 01. The plug filled with LCL and he recalled his own first time experiencing being submerged in Lilith's blood.

"I think I'm going to be sick," the boy had gasped.

"Just bear with it," one Captain Misato Katsuragi had chided him, "you're a boy after all."

"And just what does THAT have to do with anything," came the less than stoic response.

That had elicited an actual chuckle from the boy's future guardian.

Now though, Soren adjusted to breathing in the LCL with little difficulty. A familiar warm swept over him as Unit 01 was activated. The EVA was deployed to one of the secondary elevators and not even the abrupt acceleration did much to faze Soren. The German man gazed up, Unit 01's head tilting upwards to match the motion. There, circling above him, were the seven surviving units of the EVA series. Unit 01's eyes flared and an explosion consumed one of the enemy EVAs. Its core fractured and a spurt of red liquid rained down from the sky. The white EVA itself plummeted like a stone, splattering against the ground as a mangled pile of flesh and bone. Six survivors. Soren waited for the others to respond to his opening challenge. At the same time he reached deep into Unit 01's core to find the one person he refused to see perish with the abomination his mother had wrought.

* * *

As the broadcast played out worldwide another group of old men was in the throes of shock and panic. The twelve members of SEELE screamed and cried in outrage at this sudden betrayal by those they believed their most trusted agents. Even worse was the realization that failure was indeed an all too real possibility now.

"We have lost two of the EVA series!" SEELE 04 railed. "And with Franklin and Klinge exposing us we will be unable to muster the resources to replace them!"

"They must be silenced," SEELE 02 stated. "How are our overrides not cutting off their broadcasts?"

"Those overrides were designed by the BND," SEELE 05 reminded the others bitterly. "The Generalmajor must have developed her own backdoor to circumvent our means of control."

"But we command the MAGI!" SEELE 04 cried out. "What greater system could Klinge have to match that!?"

"We do _not_ command all the MAGI anymore," SEELE 11 said coldly. "Franklin and Klinge have deployed troops loyal to them to seize the NERV branches within their respective nations. Only the Matsushiro, Beijing, and Tabgha MAGIs remain."

"We must do something!" SEELE 04 railed. "We must-"

Abruptly in mid-sentence the black monolith that represented the American councilmember disappeared.

"What happened?" SEELE 03 exclaimed.

"Our enemies must be striking directly at us," SEELE 09 concluded. "That is the only way our secure connections could terminate like that."

"But how did they find-the ceremony," SEELE 02 said. "They waited until we exposed ourselves for the-"

SEELE 02's monolith disappeared.

"They're picking us off one by one," SEELE 08 said. "We need to-"

Another monolith disappeared. The remaining councilmembers erupted and lost any composure they yet retained. Throughout all this the monolith representing SEELE 01 remained silent.

Three of the remaining units of the EVA series plummeted towards Soren, seeking to slash apart Unit 01 as they dive-bombed the EVA. Soren had little difficult dodging the attempts, instead reversing the situation and shredding the wings of the incoming EVAs to send them crashing into the ground as they lost control of their descent. Before his first victim could pick himself back up Soren slammed a foot into its neck and snapped it. The damage would not keep the EVA down for long but there was more than enough time for Soren to grab hold of the discarded sword and smash it through the back armor plate and wedge it into the core. The red sphere pulsed and swelled before erupting in a puddle of red goo. Two down, five to go. Soren hefted the sword, not bothering to reconfigure it into a Lance. Without AT-fields of their own his commandeered weapon would be more useful in this form against the EVA series.

The other EVAs had managed to pick themselves back up or land safely and growled at Unit 01. Theirs was a feral intelligence, capable of little than charging an opponent and swarming it to death. What little ingenuity they possessed was limited to the usage of the Lance replicas in their possession. It was not much and against an experienced opponent that also possessed an S2 organ the EVA series was hopelessly outmatched. Two enemy EVAs charged Soren and the man deftly deflected the incoming slashes. He projected his AT-field, bisecting one of his opponents and rotated. A gush of blood erupted as the EVA was severed at its torso and the top half was spun about before topping over. Unit 01 angled its blade to meet the falling EVA, slicing through the head before cracking another core. Three down, four to go.

At seeing their numbers cut down so effortlessly the remaining EVAs changed tact. Their swords shifted form into replica Lances and one threw it at Soren. Unit 01 glanced at the incoming projectile and a moment later a hunk of molten slag sprinkled the ground as the Lance was consumed in the burst of plasma. The EVA that launched the Lance seemed taken aback by the destruction of its weapon. It did not have any time to recover as Unit 01 barreled into it and smashed through its chest plate with its bare fist. The hand sank through the core until Soren felt a slim tube in his grip. He squeezed without hesitation and the EVA slumped down, the feral intelligence driving it disappearing. Four down, three to go. Soren gazed at the remaining EVAs. It was almost over.

Only four members of the council remained, the old men impotent against the kill teams that hunted them down. The men and women sent after them were relentless and driven, for they represented the very best of their respective nations. SEAL, DGSE SA, KSK, SAS, Spetsnaz, these were men and women absolutely unrelenting in their drive when given a mission. As impressive as the security measures protecting each of the SEELE councilmembers they were a pale shadow compared to the warriors that now bayed for their blood. Three remained.

"Kiel! Say something!" SEELE 10 screamed. "How could we have failed! After all the years, all the sacrifice, how could we be denied our-"

SEELE 10's monolith vanished. Only SEELE 03 remained with Kiel Lorenz.

"No, no, this is unthinkable," SEELE 03 muttered. "With us dies all hope for humanity, all hope for the future."

A chuckle sounded, the first sound to emanate from SEELE 01 since the debacle began to unfold.

"Kiel?" SEELE 03 said in confusion.

"We were so arrogant," Kiel said. "We believed in the surety of our purpose, never considering that the vision of another could supersede ours."

"But we represent the wisdom of the ages!" SEELE 03 protested. "We who have witnessed the rise and fall of kingdoms, the fall of the gods and the stagnation of reason! Who else but us could determine the best path for mankind to take!"

"We forgot that as much as the future repeats the mistakes of the past, we are not the only ones who live through it," Kiel went on.

"Each generation is blinded to their own ignorance!" SEELE 03 declared. "What point is there of a future when humanity is incapable of change!"

"We mistook our own decrepitude, our own stagnation, for that of mankind's," Kiel said. "Is that why you turned away from us, Amanda?"

SEELE 03 said nothing for a moment. "What?"

That was to be the councilman's last word as his monolith too disappeared.

Back in the personal sanctuary of Kiel Lorenz the old man looked up at the woman standing before him.

"I always knew you would achieve great things," he said. "I never imagined that that greatness would come from overturning the order I and my fellows established."

"You said it yourself grandfather," Amanda said. "You and the rest of SEELE mistook your own stagnation for mankind's. The rest of humanity never stopped changing, never stopped adapting. We could have persevered."

Kiel chuckled once more. "Perhaps you are right. If the rest of mankind could produce such an effort as to derail its own ascension to godhood, then perhaps that godhood is not needed." The old man looked up at Amanda, the woman's visage reflected off of his visor. "I said this once before and I say it once more. I feel a pride in having had you as a granddaughter. That pride is not diminished by your defiance. It only grows seeing that you possess the will to find your own path."

Amanda smiled ever so slightly. "I have many a reason to hate you, grandfather. But I will allow you to accept defeat in grace." The woman raised her pistol. "Goodbye, grandfather."

* * *

The last of the EVA series struggled futilely as it was squeezed in Unit 01's blood drenched hands. The most powerful of the EVAs seemed to almost grin as the core throbbed. With every pulse it seemed to try to swell, only for another crack to appear as Unit 01 prevented any outlet for the growing pressure. Finally the core burst and doused the purple EVA with a coating of red. Unit 01 roared in triumph.

Soren took a deep breath, his mental state more relaxed than it had been for decades. Being able to let loose like this, to so thoroughly demolish the EVA series, had been wonderfully cathartic. He was pretty sure his last three kills had caused more than one person back in the command center to empty their stomachs but the man did not really care. The EVA series was destroyed, their replica Lances broken or vaporized outright, and the last SEELE and their pawns would soon be neutralized. There was one more thing he needed to do however.

The interface within the entry plug began flashing red in alarm as Soren crossed the depth levels into negative ranges. Within a matter of seconds the German man's body liquefied and joined the rest of the primordial goo that was LCL. Now one with Unit 01's core Soren came face to face with three entities, the slumbering soul of Rei Ayanami that he had come to rescue, the animalistic instinct that embodied the flesh of Unit 01, and Yui Ikari, the woman he had come to kill.

The brown haired woman turned to him and blinked in surprise, for the person standing before her could well pass for her husband in his early adulthood. The eyes however, their piercing intelligence she recognized all too easily as her own.

"Shinji."

Soren regarded the woman. "You know why I am here."

Yui frowned. "You said you would kill me."

"Yes, I did."

"Might I at least know what I did to incur your ire?" Yui asked.

A flare of anger nearly made it to Soren's expression but the man managed to stifle it. Instead he looked over at the grotesque form of Unit 01.

"You abandoned us to seek your own godhood."

Yui followed his gaze and smiled mirthlessly. "Yes, yes I did." She then looked back at Soren. "And I made sure to leave you an invitation to join me."

"Father was rather aggrieved that you did not leave one for him," Soren said. "In fact he became a broken man because of it and in his anguish he attempted to seize my invitation for his own."

Yui frowned before sighing sadly. "Your father, had great difficulty reaching out to others. He simply did not know how to. I had hoped that the time I spent with him would have taught him the means to do so."

"Any lessons you taught him went unheeded," Soren stated bluntly.

Yui pursed her lips. "Do you, hate him as well?"

"He is dead by my hands," Soren said, which was true enough.

Yui's face twisted in, not anger or grief, but dissatisfaction. "And now you are here for me as well. Will you finish the job by taking your own life?"

"Yes," Soren said without hesitation. That was also true, from a certain point of view.

Yui clasped her hands behind her back, not that that had any real meaning with mental projections.

"I see. Then I have failed. I have failed to give you the world that I wanted you to have. I failed as a scientist, I failed as a wife, and I failed as a mother. And if you have come this far, then you are not looking for me to make amends."

"There would be no point," Soren agreed.

"You disappoint me, Shinji," Yui said. "I had wanted to give you the world, but it seems that that was not enough."

Soren tilted his head aside. "Was it not you that said that one can always find happiness no matter what, so long as life goes on?"

Yui smiled slightly. "So you remember."

"Not really," Soren stated. "It was attributed to you secondhand."

The smile disappeared to be replaced with resignation.

"You hate me," the woman said. "That is plain to see. You wish me to suffer."

Soren considered those words. After having witnessed that other score however they felt rather ironic.

"Whether you suffer or not is on your own conscience," he replied. "I am content with the consequences of my actions."

Yui chuckled wirily. "Humans, we're a selfish lot, aren't we? Only caring about what we get out of life and only grudgingly about others."

Soren made no denials. He was after all very much part of the collective for the rewards of services rendered.

"I had hoped that you might break the cycle," Yui said, "to prove better than your selfish father and mother. I suppose it was unfair of me to hold such expectations even as I indulged in my own selfishness."

Again Soren remained silent.

"Well, at least allow me to be a mother one last time," Yui said as she smiled gently at Soren. "I forgive you, Shinji."

Soren blinked. His resolve did not waver, his determination did not shake, but for a brief moment he was truly and genuinely surprised. His own mother, the Yui Ikari of his native score, had been a cold and calculating woman with no sense of empathy. The ability to feel for others had been stripped from her during the contact experiment with Unit 01 and the woman that emerged was one that was so absolutely utilitarian that she discarded her own husband and son until such time as she found a practical use for the latter. Confronted with such a form of indirect abuse the boy that eventually became Soren Reimer had adopted a similar coldness, a similar detachment, evaluating everything and everyone around him with the same eye towards utility. At least, until he met someone who took that view to the logical extreme and applied it to herself. It was after meeting Rei Ayanami that the boy learned empathy once more. It was after losing her that he burned the world in a vain attempt to be reunited with her. And it was to be returned to her side that he had accepted the deal offered by Yui Ichijo and Asuka Soryu.

"Your forgiveness is misdirected," Soren said after a long silence. "Ikari Shinji has no need for it and Rokubungi Shinji is not one you can forgive."

This time it was Yui that blinked in surprise. But Soren gave her no more time to contemplate the meaning of his words. He activated Unit 01's self-destruct.

Back in the Geofront the armor plate popped off of Unit 01's back. The secondary entry plug that was originally meant to house a dummy plug shot out as it was ejected and the men and women of the 597th rushed forth to secure it. Unit 01 then began rising into the air as three pairs of crimson wings formed on its back. The broken bodies of the EVA series began to liquefy. The mangled hulk of Unit 05 down inside Central Dogma did the same. The armor plating of Unit 04 began falling apart as the form it restrained gave way. Worldwide at the various branches and manufacturing sites the stocks of spares for the Evangelions turned into useless goo. And deep down in Terminal Dogma Lilith's form began to decay, the process accelerating even as high in the sky Unit 01's body started shining. A moment later the EVA erupted in a blinding light and took with it the progenitor of mankind.

Down in the command center Amanda Sommer slumped down in her chair, her eyes closed and a content smile on her face. General Sebastian Adams did the same, his kneeling form held up by the armor he still wore. In another room Keitaro Aramaki lay cradled in the arms of his life. Hitomi Hayashima passed quietly surrounded by the medical team that she had worked alongside for so long. Around the world the collective withdrew from their mortal shells for their work was done. One day this world might yet be theirs once more, but not today. Today, those of this score would be the ones to greet the new dawn.

End of Chapter 45

Well, there we have it. The sidesteppers have exited stage left and the rest is in the hands of those left behind. Next chapter is cleanup and then I have four epilogues planned. The character list will be included in the author notes of the last epilogue. There was at least one other scene that I was considering slotting in at the end of this chapter but I felt that ending here was more appropriate. That and we're at eight thousand words so this is already getting a tad long.

Slowly we draw towards the close. Lots of loose ends being tied up. Overall I'm happy with the way the story developed. And I managed to maintain a pretty decent update pace if I don't say so myself. At over 350k words written over six months, I'd say I did a pretty good job. We'll see how long it is before this fic gets buried in obscurity, but I did what I wanted and I got the story out of my head before it got stifled. I leave it to others to try to identify all of the tropes that I've likely used, at this point I doubt I could keep track of them even if I tried. Anyway, feedback is welcome and look forward to the upcoming conclusion. After I get out another chapter of _A Cold Calculus_.


	47. Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Erbe

Shinji resisted the urge to stretch as he got off the plane. That might have looked less than dignified seeing all the people waiting to greet him. As the boy emerged from the door a large cheer swept through the crowds and the police officers were visibly straining to keep the masses behind the lines. Then again no one was liable to actually try swarming the plane with not only quite a few very visible guards positioned around the perimeter but also the properly armed honor guard waiting at the foot of the stairs. No ceremonial weapons here, the assault rifles they carried were loaded and ready to go at a moment's notice. Hopefully, despite the tumultuous three months since the destruction of SEELE and the political upheaval that followed, that would not be necessary.

Worldwide the governments of several major powers had seen many senior officials fall victim to SEELE's supposed failsafe. The US presidential cabinet saw nearly half its membership pass on, four now reviled as pawns of SEELE and the others including President Franklin celebrated by the American people as patriots that embodied the ideal of dedication to freedom. The German cabinet had seen fewer members perish outright, though neither of the two that succumbed to the failsafe had any legacy worth celebrating now seeing as they were ardent adherents to the SEELE's vision for humanity. The UN itself did not emerge unscathed and the criticism it endured once it became clear that Secretary-General Madeline Vincennes was not a member of the SEELE resistance but in fact one of the principle movers for the instrumentality project could not be easily brushed off.

And yet even as the peoples of the world grappled with the unprecedented betrayal of so many entrusted with so much power they found that there were still heroes to be celebrated amidst all this deception and despair, for one of the legacies of the collective was a massive cache of data that was publicly released that detailed the parts and roles played not only by SEELE's pawns but also by those who struggled to subvert the council's ambitions. The collective was unflinching in admitting their own guilt, the sins that they committed in their quest to stop an even greater atrocity, and each man and woman left behind a confession of all the crimes that they should be charged with. Yet this gave the masses little pause as they celebrated these same men and women. Their crimes were acknowledged, and while perhaps not outright forgiven, were at least understood to be the acts of desperation in the face of a seemingly insurmountable threat to the survival of mankind.

President Kavan Franklin, guilty of extrajudicial military actions such as ordering the 101st Airborne overseas to defend NERV-Tokyo and the deployment of the Marine Corps against members of the legislature whom were subservient to SEELE. In light of the results of his actions and cognizant of public opinion that very same legislature, or what was left of it after the purges, began to seriously discuss whether as the commander-in-chief of the US military Franklin might be eligible for the Congressional Medal of Honor. The opinions of most pundits was that he technically was not but President Frederica Greenfield-Yang, Franklin's direct successor and protégé, sidestepped Congress and posthumously awarded her mentor the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Major-General Margaret Klinge, guilty of circumventing civilian control of the German military and orchestrating the deployment of the Bundeswehr against domestic targets. The latter was in a bit of a gray area as the targets the Bundeswehr seized were all NERV sites and nominally under UN jurisdiction. The German government, finicky as ever about the letter of the law, did actually bring charges against the deceased general, an act that Klinge had apparently anticipated as she had included in her will a list of all the charges that she would plead guilty to. After that little surprise the German president, himself actually not a SEELE pawn, promptly pardoned the general and Klinge was posthumously granted the Bundeswehr Cross of Honour for Valour in recognition of the fact that the enemies she stood against had subverted the German government itself to degrees not seen since a certain Austrian hijacked it over eighty years ago.

Colonel Madison Ingrid Metz, the Bundeswehr officer that actually planned the operation to take NERV-Berlin and NERV-Hamburg with an absolute minimum loss of life. In theory Madison had actually done nothing wrong save perhaps violate her oath of loyalty to the Fatherland, but as with Klinge there was little doubt that Madison's conduct was purely for the sake of saving not only Germany but all of humanity. She too was awarded the Cross of Honour for Valour.

Colonel Amanda Sommer, the granddaughter of the leader of SEELE himself, a woman who rejected her own family's vision and helped orchestrate their downfall. By all rights Amanda had violated her oath as a UN officer, withholding information from her lawful superiors and passing on classified Inspectorate information. The United Nations General Assembly voted to award her the Assembly Medal of Valor, the highest award that the still young United Nations Military Command possessed.

Brigadier-General Soren Reimer. The victims that Soren had killed over the course of his career as SEELE's enforcer, both innocent and guilty alike, numbered well into the hundreds. Then there were his actions during the Crimea separatist incident on behalf of SEELE's Russian member. Yet if anything the public did not declare him abhorrent, in fact what many felt was an immense sense of pity for the man for Soren Reimer began life as a SEELE test subject for their human-Angel hybrid experiments. Subjected to genetic tinkering even before he was born to make him compatible with Angelic DNA, Soren was the only survivor of the original series of prototypes. After his successful implantation SEELE presumed that they had the perfect instrument to carry out the will along with an obedient backup in case the later hybrids proved unworkable.

Those presumptions were proven false as Soren exceeded their expectations for his cover identity and went on to become instrumental in far more of SEELE's plans than they had anticipated. His marriage to Amanda, treated by many of the council more as a means of controlling their tool than as an actual union seeing as both were sterile, was viewed as a minor miracle of love by the world. His role as a father figure for several of the pilots, a testament to the humanity that the old men had failed to burn out. And his final sacrifice, destroying all of the EVAs along with himself, a declaration that mankind was worth the pain and suffering he had endured to preserve. The Assembly duly awarded him with its Medal of Valor as well. All these awards, all posthumous, a recognition on the part of the rest of the human race that in some ways they were too late in honoring these fallen heroes.

But then there were those individuals still alive, men and women that had contributed to the fight against the Angels and played their own part in defeating SEELE. Captain Makoto Hyuga, whom followed his conscience and defied the madman Gendo Ikari when he sought to place in immense jeopardy the Second Child simply to assert his dominance. Ritsuko Akagi, called upon time and time again to save the pilots when their lives hung by a thread after each tumultuous victory against the Angels. And Misato Katsuragi, the current commander of NERV who had proven not only able to shoulder the burden but widely credited with having personally led mankind to victory over the Angels.

And then there were the pilots, all four of them. Hikari Horaki, whose tenure was so tragically cut short when her EVA was compromised by an Angel and then maimed by the callous stratagem employed by the former commander of NERV. Mari Illustrious Makinami, who pushed her EVA so hard in the battle against the Angel of Might that she was forced to sit out the rest of the conflict. Rei Ayanami, the first of the pilots and whom the world had thought perished after her EVA was consumed by the same Angel, another miracle that the world was only too happy to accept. Asuka Langley Shikinami, the brilliant red-haired Valkyrie who was nearly murdered on the eve of humanity's victory against the Angels. And Shinji Ikari, the quiet, unassuming boy that had risen to the gauntlet laid down by his father and proved himself a man in the face of such desperation. Only Maria Vincennes was absent, the girl still too traumatized by how thoroughly her world had been rent asunder to leave the safety of NERV-Tokyo.

Still, the pilots present now and others accompanying them were here today in Berlin as the first step on their journey to Geneva and the United Nations headquarters located there to offer further testimony on the war against the Angels and also to be honored for their contributions. As for why Berlin would be their port of entry into Europe, that answer became abundantly clear when one noted the other people waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.

Asuka did not bother waiting for the others, she dashed down and threw herself into the arms of her waiting father. Wilhelm enveloped his daughter in a tight embrace as joy and relief filled the man. The physical lockdown of NERV-Tokyo had prevented him from going over to Japan and while he and Asuka had talked a great deal over teleconference, having his daughter physically here was a world of difference. And then to the surprise of the woman standing next to him Asuka gave her a hug as well. Asuka and her stepmother had never been very close, not that the woman ever really blamed her. Yet it seemed that the warming of relations between Asuka and Wilhelm was now being extended to her. The woman smiled and caressed Asuka's hair. Perhaps they would be an actual family now. As she watched her stepdaughter give her own daughter a hug as well, she dropped the perhaps from her thought. No, they were a family now.

Shinji walked up to the reunited family and bowed to Wilhelm.

"Herr Langley," he greeted in practiced German. "I return your daughter to you."

Wilhelm regarded the boy. He had stood by Asuka through hell and back, nearly dying on more than one occasion to carry out his duty. Wilhelm extended a hand.

"No need, Herr Ikari," Wilhelm responded in the same language. "I believe that she remains in good hands."

Shinji looked up at the man and smiled gratefully as he accepted the offered hand.

Misato smiled at the scene before walking up to the tidily dressed man standing next to another fiery redhead.

"General Katsuragi," Julian Mintz, the youngest ever German minister of justice greeted with an offered hand of his own.

"Minister Mintz," Misato said with a shake of said hand.

"You and your people have been through much," Julian said. "I hope that while in Berlin at least you will be able to rest and enjoy yourself."

"Thank you minister," Misato said before winking. "I intend to thoroughly enjoy the many beers your fair city has to offer."

Julian chuckled. "From what I recall the last time you were here, Katerose will be joining you quite often as you sample what the city offers."

Misato flashed the woman in question a wide smile, an expression Katerose returned in kind.

"But please, come," Julian said.

The not so small group made its way past the honor guard, Misato taking note of the precise stance each soldier held. As they walked past Misato realized that it was actually three distinct sets of honor guards. First the Bundeswehr, then UNMC soldiers, and finally a NERV tac ops unit presumably from the Third Branch. She chuckled silently. Well, all of them did have some right to be here to show their colors. And it was a pleasant display of the breadth of support for herself and NERV as a whole. Now she just needed to parlay that support to carry on with the next step of the master plan Amanda had revealed to her.

* * *

"Shinji-kun!"

The form that tackled the boy was a blur that not even the boy's considerably improved reflexes saved him from. Asuka spun about just in time to see her boyfriend enveloped in, not a hug, but a full on glomp by a certain brown-haired teen their age.

"Mana!" Asuka cried in indignation. "Let go of him!"

To the German girl's surprise Mana did just that. To her equal if not greater surprise she was the next victim of the Japanese girl's hugging mania. This was followed by Rei, Mari, who was equally enthusiastic in returning said huge, and finally Hikari. She then eyed Toji, who was accompanying Hikari, and simply gave him a pat on the head while winking to the class rep.

"No Kensuke-san?" Mana observed.

Asuka chuckled. "He really, really wanted to come."

Mana echoed the other girl's amusement before beaming at all of them once more. "I'm so glad to see all of you again."

"It's good to see you too Mana-san," Shinji replied with a smile of his own. "I hope you've been well?"

The girl's head bobbed up and down. "Asuka-san's aunt has been looking out for me." Mana turned to the girl in question. "And you've got a really cute little sister that loves being spoiled."

"Oh joy of joys," Asuka said dryly even as she failed to suppress a smile of her own. "What other havoc have you been wrecking in my city?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Mana teased.

The girl's expression suddenly turned somber however as she gazed past her friends. The others looked over to see a Japanese man in the uniform of a UN major approach.

"Excuse me," Mana said as she walked over to meet him halfway.

"Ain't that the guy in charge of the regiment?" Toji said.

Asuka nodded. "C'mon, let's go."

Shinji glanced after Mana for a moment longer before nodding. One of the things they had learned in the past three months was that the regiment had been shown some of the collective's secrets. Not from the soldiers themselves, every single one of them had been tightlipped about the truth entrusted to them, the truth that Midori Kayabuki and Mana Kirishima were in some ways one and the same.

The pilots and one tagalong carried on, having other business they needed to attend to here at the Third Branch and left the regimental major and acting CO alone with Mana. Kudo came to a halt before the girl and snapped a sharp salute.

"Kirishima-san," he greeted.

Mana returned the salute. "Major Kudo."

The man smiled gently. "It, is good to see you well."

Mana pursed her lips. "Major. I respect Colonel Kayabuki greatly, and I am grateful to the regiment for everything that you have done for me. But, she and I are not entirely the same person."

"No," Kudo agreed to the girl's relief. "No, you are your own person, Kirishima Mana-san." And then he bowed. "But should you decide to follow in her footsteps, know that we will welcome you with open arms."

That earned Kudo a wide smile and Mana nodded. "Hai."

* * *

"Will you be coming back with us to Japan?" Hikari asked as she enjoyed a quiet moment with Mari and her boyfriend.

"Probably," Mari said. "Amanda, Soren, and Madison pretty much took care of me while I grew up so I don't really have anywhere else to go."

Hikari nodded. "I see. But, you're not alone, Mari-san."

The bespectacled girl smiled. "Yeah, I know. Still, I am losing the princess to pups so that's a little sad."

The class rep regarded Mari. "Umm, Mari-san, do you like Asuka-san, that way?"

Mari gazed at Hikari's slightly reddening face before chuckling. "Maybe. Though it's more like, I was attracted to her passion. Asuka's very brilliant, you know, but if you're not careful you could get burned if you get too close. I think Shinji's one of the few people to be able to draw her her and not get roasted."

"They're good for each other," Hikari agreed.

The other girl nodded in agreement. "Yeah. So I don't have any qualms about leaving her in his care. Well, I'll find someone just for me someday."

"Where are those two anyway?" Toji interjected. "They just up an' disappeared on us after we got here."

"Talking to a lawyer," Mari said nonchalantly. "Probably some boring legal stuff. I'm sure we'll have to do it to."

"Bleh," Toji made his opinion of that abundantly clear.

* * *

The legacy left behind by the collective was substantial in both abstract and concrete terms. Abstractly they had guaranteed humanity's safety from any further attempts to force Instrumentality. Concretely they had taken steps to prevent mankind's extinction from other forces. Another concrete legacy was the immense wealth left behind, most of it bequeathed to the collective's respective counterparts. Two such counterparts were sitting in a conference room with one of the lawyers entrusted with disbursing those assets.

"The Reimer-Sommer estate is quite extensive," the man said. "I have a more detailed rundown of all its items and if you would like we can go over that later, but for now would a précis be acceptable?"

Asuka and Shinji nodded, still working out their feelings about all the revelations from their counterparts even before this latest surprise was dumped on them. Of the two only Asuka had any real inkling of what they were about to hear seeing as she had known Amanda and Soren for many years. Shinji only knew that the couple was relatively well off but little beyond that.

"Very well," the lawyer said with a nod and cleared his throat. "The majority of it is in the form of shares in companies, biotechnology, defense, and IT mostly, and the size of their holdings meant they had substantial voting power in each firm. Currently those assets are worth approximately 1.2 billion Deutsche Marks."

Shinji's jaw dropped while Asuka made a choking sound. The lawyer gave them an amused smile but carried on.

"There are a few other assets including a large reserve of cash on the order of another 128 million DM."

The two kids continued staring at the lawyer.

"There are also some additional assets that are separate from their main accounts. Herr Reimer had a large wine collection that has never been independently assessed but the worth of which is likely substantial, along with his violins and cars. He also drew pay as a United Nations officer and so the account that contains that money is also technically part of the estate, though there is some paperwork that would need to be sorted out for that.

"Fraulein Sommer had fewer separate assets, but she was the only heir to Kiel Lorenz."

This time the reaction of the pilots were for entirely different reasons.

"Herr Lorenz's assets are still being sorted through," the lawyer said. "A substantial amount is likely to be seized as reparations for his involvement in Second Impact and the attempted Third Impact, but what remains would technically have gone to Fraulein Sommer and therefore part of the Reimer-Sommer estate."

Shinji felt his stomach churn slightly. The money left behind by Amanda and Soren was one thing, those two had dedicated their lives to stopping Third Impact and had gained their wealth as part of that process. That there was so much left over that they wanted to give to him and Asuka, he could accept with sincere gratitude. But the money of Kiel Lorenz was at best blood money. That man, no, that monster had been responsible for the death of billions in his demented quest for godhood. Shinji felt certain he wanted no part of it. Looking over at Asuka, he was fairly certain the girl felt much the same.

"Let us wait and see how things proceed before you make any decisions on that front," the lawyer suggested, having sensed the mood.

The two exchanged looks before nodding reluctantly.

"Now, beyond a few special bequests the entirety of the estate has been left to the two of you," the lawyer said. "The will stipulates that you both get an equal share and while it also asks that you two try to stay together, Herr Reimer and Frau Sommer acknowledge that you are your own persons and understand if you ultimately wish to establish relations with someone else."

Asuka glanced over. "Well Baka Shinji, what do you have to say to that?"

Shinji smiled and reached over, taking Asuka's hand. "We may be our own people Asuka, but that just means I love you myself."

The girl blushed slightly and looked away. "Baka."

The lawyer smiled, remembering a similar though somewhat toned down exchange between his former clients and friends.

"Now, onto those bequests I mentioned," he said. "The majority of Herr Reimer's wine collection has been specifically stated to go to Herr Ikari. A few specific bottles have been bequeathed to Colonel, excuse me, General Katsuragi and another selection to yourself, Fraulein Langley. Frau Sommer has also split her coffee supply in a similar manner, though in this case the majority goes to you, Fraulein Langley, with a portion going to General Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi."

That all made sense though Asuka wondered just why Soren had chosen to give most of his wine collection to Shinji. It was not like the Third Child drank wine or had that much of an appreciation for it. Then again one version of him had grown up into Soren Reimer himself so who knew what the future held.

"Herr Reimer also leaves his musical instruments to you, Fraulein Langley," the lawyer said. "He asked that you take good care of them and continue sharing their sound with the world."

Asuka nodded. That she would most definitely do. She was the one and only protégé of the virtuoso violinist Soren Reimer after all.

"As for Herr Reimer's cars, it is my understanding that he was on the waitlist for the new BMW i8. That order has been fulfilled and so there are four cars as part of the estate. The Lamborghini he has bequeathed to Colonel Katsuragi, the Porsche to a Fraulein Kirishima," the lawyer said, not registering the glare Asuka shot Shinji at that, "and the BMWs to Herr Ikari, though of all the cars only the i3 is configured for driving in Japan. Frau Sommer has left her cars to you, Fraulein Langley.

"Finally, there are a couple of bequests of a financial nature. All these are a mixture of stocks and cash but I will provide the rough monetary value here. Herr Reimer has left Fraulein Kirishima, Herr Aida, and Herr Suzuhara each with approximately 5 million DM. Frau Sommer has similarly left Fraulein Horaki the same amount. There is also a sum of 10 million set aside in a trust for the continuing education of the children under the care of a Frau Fuuka Yamagishi." The lawyer looked up straight at Shinji. "Herr Ikari, you have been named as the executor of that trust."

Shinji nodded in understanding.

The lawyer tilted his head in acknowledgment before continuing. "The last bequest is 15 million DM left to Fraulein Ayanami, though Herr Reimer asks that you two continue looking after her."

The two pilots nodded, knowing how close a thing it was that Rei was even still with them. The girl had been recovered, to the amazement of many people, from the entry plug ejected by Unit 01 before it self-destructed, one last gift from Soren. An examination by Ritsuko had determined that somehow Lilith's genetic material had been somehow purged from the girl's body, which by all rights should have killed her. Instead the only really noticeable difference was the gradual browning of her hair even as her eyes retained their scarlet shine. The past three months had allowed the girl to get back on her feet but she was still extremely reserved as she adjusted to the changes to her body. Well, reserved with anyone aside from Shinji and Asuka. Physical contact seemed as important to Rei as it remained for Asuka even as the German girl's sense of touch slowly but steadily improved.

"That about sums up the basics," the lawyer said. "Now, shall we get down to the details including the estate tax owed on all of this?"

Asuka groaned audibly while Shinji merely grimaced. The lawyer allowed himself a smile. All his clients reacted that way once reality set in after all the fun bits were revealed.

* * *

"I'm not sure whether I'm impressed or appalled," Ritsuko said.

"About what?" Misato asked even as she gazed out the window. The bulletproof window at that.

"That the other versions of us screwed up so badly that they needed to find a, refuge," Ritsuko said, "or that they pretty laid the groundwork for a one world government in our timeline."

Misato chuckled. Her friend was being far more sanguine about the whole thing than she had been after she was first brought in on the collective's real secrets. In fact Ritsuko had spent all of a day adamantly refusing to believe that something so ludicrous could be true, until Misato handed her a data packet from her own counterpart that provided the theoretical framework that might, just might, scientifically justify all the insanity. At which point Ritsuko gave up on rationale thought and just went along with everything.

At present the two of them were waiting for several of the UN's higher ups to discuss the plan for NERV's future. Technically the organization's mission was complete with the destruction of the Angels. As Misato and Ritsuko knew however, there were even greater threats looming in the future that humanity needed to prepare for. To get the UN to play along and continue funding NERV would take some doing but Amanda, Klinge, and Franklin had done a lot of spadework for that purpose. In fact a part of Misato was inclined to regard that as the greatest achievement of the collective. After all every member of the collective had come from a timeline where the Angels were defeated, meaning even without their help NERV probably would have triumphed. Defeating SEELE and preventing Third Impact itself, a bit more complicated with what seemed like at best a fifty-fifty chance of success. But engineering the transformation of NERV along with the UN into something that would actually safeguard humanity's long term survival? Despite the political chaos left in the wake of SEELE's beheading? Now that took real skill to pull off.

Part of it was pretty straightforward. Many of the people left behind in positions of power had been maneuvered there by the collective because they knew they could be trusted to do the right thing. Some had been actively groomed, such as President Greenfield-Yang, while others the collective took a more hands off approach with.

Probably the single biggest nest egg left behind by the collective however had to be Morgenroete Incorporated, the massive industrial conglomerate that had grown out of the Morgenroete Institute, the 108th associated entity of the Marduk Institute. Not only was Morgenroete responsible for the Javelin bipedal walkers derived from the original Trident design, they had also produced the powered armor used by the 101st Airborne with such lethality against the JSSDF. And then there was the anti-AT-filed ammo that Morgenroete had developed and combined with the fact that all of the production equipment for the aforementioned goodies were all currently stowed in Central Dogma after having been moved there over the past few months and the rest of the world had very good reason to want to remain on Misato's good side. Not that she intended to rub that fact too much in other people's faces.

And of course there was the Morgenroete Foundation, the non-profit arm of Morgenroete that ran many of the relief efforts worldwide and which had played a significant role in filling the gap left when the UN was forced to divert funds to meet NERV's ever-growing expenses in the fight against the Angels. The foundation, and its parent corporation, was thus extremely popular in many places that had been saved from starvation and deprivation through its efforts. As with many other ventures the collective had paid attention to the details, making sure that the hard power they had built up was complemented by the soft power that would make possession of the former more acceptable to the world.

Elimination of all dissent was of course impossible and the collective had not been naïve or foolish enough to attempt it. But for now the world had time, time to heal and time to rebuild. Time before the next great challenge rose to threaten its survival. Misato took a deep breath. And time for that as well. The woman frowned as suddenly her stomach felt like it was doing summersaults. There was fortunately a bathroom attached to the conference room and she hurried over to make use of it. Ritsuko frowned and followed after her friend.

"Misato, are you okay?"

The woman held up a hand as she proceeded to empty her stomach. Only after she was done, and had washed the smell of vomit away, did she respond.

"I think so," she said.

"Something you ate?" Ritsuko said as she gave her friend a comforting rub on the back.

"I don't think so," Misato replied. "Haven't really had anything out of the ordinary."

"You going to be okay for the meeting or should we reschedule?"

"No, no, I'll be fine, I think it's over," Misato said.

"Well after this let's get you checked out."

"I said I'm-"

"Misato, doctor's orders," Ritsuko cut her off.

The woman chuckled. "Alright, I suppose I can't argue with that."

"Nor should you," Ritsuko said.

As it turned out Misato did get through the meeting without further incident. The checkup afterward was another matter entirely, or at least the conclusion.

"I'm WHAT!?"

* * *

The sound of waves splashing against the shore was the first thing Misato was aware of. The fact that she could be aware of anything at all was enough to quickly jolt the woman out from her subdued state of consciousness. Her body ached and protested as she tried to bolt up but it eventually obeyed and Misato found herself on a beach some distance from where the tide was rising and falling. She blinked, looking down at her body. It was whole and dressed in her WILLE uniform. Frowning, Misato tried to recall her last moments. Shinji, she had tried to stop Shinji from hijacking Unit 01 after learning that Rei was dead. And then a darkness consumed her, marking her failure. Or had she? Where was she now? Misato looked around more and saw that she was not alone. Not too far away was a red-haired girl wearing an eyepatch. Said girl was also stirring and looked as confused as Misato herself felt. More people were nearby, other members of WILLE, all seeming disoriented-

Misato's head snapped over to a figure standing off down the shore, the crimson water that filled the ocean staining the ankles as they splashed against them. It was a man, of that much she was certain. A well-built one too, with powerful wide shoulders. He was dressed in what seemed to be a formal business suit, though why Misato could not being to fathom. And then he turned about and gazed at all of them with cold blue eyes. Misato felt her blood chill and she instinctively reached for her sidearm. From the sound of bodies shuffling she was not the only one to have that reaction but none of them were armed and so they simply sat where they were, waiting.

"The atmosphere here is breathable for humans," the man said, his voice carrying clearly even over the sound of the crashing waves. "It should last that way for at least another fifty years or so. Whether that is enough time for all of you to work out alternatives is ultimately up to you."

He nodded to something beyond them and Misato and the others turned about to follow his gaze. Behind them was the _Wunder_, the craft looking slightly battered but mostly intact.

"The Ark is still functional," the man continued speaking. "It should help somewhat with that."

Misato looked back at the man. Her jaw finally started working.

"Shinji-kun?"

The man raised an eyebrow. Misato blinked. It was him. It really was him. Somehow older even though none of the pilots were supposed to be capable of physically aging anymore. Yet there he stood, a fully grown adult.

"Baka Shinji, what's going on!?" a shrill voice demanded before Misato could ask much the same.

Shinji looked over at the indignant redhead calmly. Of the people here she was one of the few that he was inclined to grant some allowance to seeing as he had left her to be torn apart alive by the EVA series of this timeline. Some, but not much.

"There is a Katsuragi Misato out there that is not so fixated by her own desire for vengeance that she would unashamedly use children as instruments of revenge," Shinji said, eliciting a pained wince from Misato. "There is a Shikinami Asuka Langley out there who was not so embittered by her own suffering that she was incapable of expressing empathy."

Asuka's mouth opened as if she was going to yell at Shinji again but she clamped it shut with an audible clack.

"It is in honor of them that I have expended a not insignificant modicum of my power to restore enough of you to life that you might yet preserve humanity as a species." Shinji regarded the Ark again. "And the tools that will aid you in that endeavor."

Misato frowned. "What are you talking about, Shinji-kun?"

Shinji gazed at her, his eyes flashing a fiery crimson before receding to a cold blue. "You failed, Misato." No honorific, just a blunt Misato. "Third Impact happened and I and Unit 01 were at the epicenter. And in being the principle catalyst, I was granted control over the combined will of mankind, a will that translates to power."

Misato squeezed shut her eyes. She wanted to deny it, she wanted to deny it so much, but she could not. She could sense the truth deep within her, a burning, painful truth at that. Shinji had achieved the godhood SEELE plotted to sacrifice humanity for.

"Enough of us," Misato said, eyes still shut. "How many of us?"

Shinji cocked his head aside. "Two hundred."

She opened them now. "Two hundred. Two hundred people in a hostile environment."

The man that was Shinji smiled. Another chill ran through Misato and everyone else present.

"I have no stake in your survivor," he said, "nor do I feel any obligation to any of you. If you consider the task impossible, then give up now, it makes no difference to me."

Shinji turned away.

"I have but one warning for you. Do not attempt to breach the Black Moon, any who dares sully its sanctity will die."

And with that the form of the adult Shinji Ikari faded.

"Wait!" Asuka cried out. "Get back here! What the hell, you're gonna just leave us like this Baka Shinji!? Get back here!"

Misato ground her teeth, suppressing her own urge to yell at the disappeared Third Child. But she knew that it would do no good. Shinji had been perfectly clear, he did not care about them and he would not do a thing to help them any more than he had already done so. If they were to survive, they needed to do the rest themselves. She picked herself up.

Some distance away inside the Black Moon, Shinji walked over to a sleeping figure. Rei. His Rei. Asuka and Yui had kept their promise, helped him draw her soul out from the tomb that was Unit 01. He reached out and his hand seemingly sank into the girl's flesh. His form shimmered and he was once again his 14 year old self, the self that had been frozen for so many years. Shinji closed his eyes as he felt his AT-field melt away and his soul merge with that of Rei's. It was a warm feeling, a content feeling, and a welcoming feeling. He lost himself to it.

* * *

Asuka adjusted herself, or at least tried to. Yui was not being very cooperative, clinging onto her with no indication of letting go anytime soon. Not that Asuka particularly wanted to separate from the other girl. In the grand scheme of things they had not been apart for that long, nor were they really actually separated while Asuka was Amanda. But now they were as close as they could be without completely dropping their own AT-fields and effectively merging their souls. Asuka was tempted, oh so tempted, to do just that, but she did not give in to that temptation. Their work for now was done but there was still the future to look to.

The girl sighed contentedly. They had a future to look forward to now, instead of being consigned to a slow death waiting for the Chamber of Guf to be destroyed. Now, when that time came, she and Yui would lead an exodus from this score to the one they had spent so long preparing. And assuming their faith was not misplaced, the humanity of that timeline would grow stronger and stronger until it was ready to truly ascend as a species. Asuka caressed Yui's form. And when that time came, they would be together.

End of Chapter 46

Well, that's the last actual chapter of the story. I hint at things to come for the kids and the adults, and I provide 'closure' for the main sidesteppers. I could probably write more for this chapter, but I need to get this out before I really lose interest in this project. It's been a long ride and to say that I am getting tired would be an understatement. I might flesh this chapter out later in the future but for now it captures all the salient points I wanted.

I know that some of you would probably like a bit more closure on some of the relationships. That's what the epilogues are for. And why there's going to be, I think, four at this point. The character list will come as part of the author notes for the last epilogue.

This might not have been completely obvious but the pilots amongst the sidesteppers are able to manipulate their AT-fields to allow themselves to move within the score almost at will, meaning they can pop up pretty much wherever they want. I showed Soren doing it a couple of times as he watched a couple of Angel battles. It's not an ability that's used too much because it requires a good deal of power, a power that the sidesteppers have a finite amount of. It's one reason why Klinge and Amanda were somewhat pissy about Soren reaming Gendo a new one. They didn't have much issue with Soren basically torturing Gendo, they did have a problem with him burning through the sidesteppers' reserve of power in the process.

At the same time Soren also possesses a S2 engine as part of the Adams embryo that was implanted in him, so he has a bit more flexibility with using his AT-field for random stunts. That should tell you something about how much power he was burning when he was roasting Gendo.

Let's see, other notes. Yes, Asuka has a little sister. I don't think it should be that surprising that her father and his new wife might have had another child.

I had Mana use 'Hai' in response to Kudo intentionally. The main reason is, 'hai' carries far more emphasis than a simple 'yes' in Japanese. It can also serve as an affirmation, a strong one, that 'yes' simply does not have in English. So here I broke my rule regarding generally sticking with English for the sake of emphasis.

Anyway, I hope those of you that have kept up with _In Tune_ have enjoyed the work thus far. If you haven't, uh, why did you bother reading over 367k words of this?

It's kind of funny, with _A Cold Calculus_ my fic gets buried by like a half dozen others within a day. That I'm still getting quite a few reviews is both a surprise and a relief. With _In Tune_ I stay within the top two/three place for days if not a week. Quite a differences in publishing pace between the two fandoms.

Actual feedback is, as always, welcome. And as for a hint as to what the epilogues will be about, EVAs in SPAAAACE!


	48. Epilogue Alpha

Epilogue Alpha

"Tracking team, status on both units' current positions," Aoba queried.

"Unit 02 has reached operation altitude and has settled into the targeted orbit," a woman reported.

"Unit 05 was unable to reach target," a man followed up.

"Acknowledged. 02 will proceed with the mission alone," Aoba ordered.

"Roger, Unit 05 will act as support. Transition to shift seven."

"02 has passed the point of no return," Maya's voice sounded, "it is entering Area 88."

"Roger," Hyuga acknowledged. "Commence Operation US."

"Roger," the woman said, "Unit 02 is entering the final operational orbit, switching to deceleration."

"Igniting all engines, stage one."

From inside her launch pod Asuka Langley Shikinami felt the entire thing shake as the rockets thundered. This high up there was no atmosphere to carry the sound but that did not necessarily mean the young woman heard nothing. Then again most of what she heard was the status reports from mission control and what Asuka was generously treating as an attempt by her wingman to imitate a cat's meowing.

The rockets stopped firing and disconnected from the pod.

"Jettisoning stage one boosters," a man reported.

"Inputting mass variation factors," a woman said, "separation confirmed. Checking power systems, no problems detected."

"Opening drain valves, discarding propellant tank. Automating ignition timing. Stage two, beginning ignition."

The pods shook again as two more engines fired off for a few seconds.

"S-1C combustion complete," a woman reported. "Closing pressure valves."

"Jettisoning stage 2 booster unit."

While she could not quite feel it herself Asuka pretended that a great weight was lifted as the rest of the boosters intended for orbital correction detached.

"Deceleration complete," mission control stated.

"Preparing to enter final operational orbit, flipping unit head. Commence rotation."

The launch pod flipped about and the entire contraption began diving down towards the Earth. Asuka took deep breaths as she took over direct control of her descent, flicking switches to make minute adjustments to her trajectory.

"All remote guidance will end here, unit will now be controlled manually," Aoba said.

"Unit 02, remember that Unit 05 is already approaching reentry," Hyuga said. "It will only be able to support you for another ninety-six seconds."

Asuka glanced at the countdown and smirked. "No problem."

"Good luck," Hyuga offered.

"Jamming detected," Aoba reported. "Detecting enemy fire!"

The pod shuddered as the heatshield was punctured. With a kick the red Garde combat mech knocked the useless block aside.

"This damn thing's just getting in my way!" Asuka declared as she tore off her helmet.

Unit 02 let loose a torrent of rounds, scoring a handful of hits and destroying the satellite that had attempted to do the same to it.

"And four-eyes, stop with the damn singing already!"

A bright beam lanced up and sliced through another satellite. Mari Illustrious Makinami continued humming away.

"Fire support was two seconds late!" Asuka shouted.

"And you're three seconds ahead of position," Mari countered.

"It's called adapting to the situation," Asuka snapped, "keep up with me!"

"By your command," Mari said as her targeting reticule locked onto another target, "your highness!"

Another satellite was vaporized by her positron cannon.

"I've got through the Fullerene shift," Asuka declared, "breaking into the terminal defense area 89!"

The girl's eyes narrowed and she growled in irritation as the trajectory of her objective shifted.

"The target is moving! No time to correct my orbit, I'm going to brute force this!"

Grabbing hold of the launcher mounted onto the pod frame she fired off the three harpoons and was rewarded with all three sinking into the construct. The tether began reeling her in and she could almost feel the immense strain being put on the mechanical systems. The lines did not snap however as she swung about before being pulled in.

"Decelerating!" Asuka shouted as she ignited the rocket pods. "Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Ignition complete!"

The exhaust from the rockets died out and the last two pods detached from the mech.

"Retrieval complete," Asuka said with an exhausted sigh.

"Roger," Hyuga said. "Well done, Captain Shikinami."

Asuka smirked. "But of course. And even before four-eyes checked out."

"Well sorry for obeying the laws of gravity," Mari snarked back.

Asuka chuckled as the inside of her cockpit dimmed before resetting as the simulation ended. She gave a big yawn as she stretched before hitting the eject button. The next few seconds were spent waiting for the liquid inside to drain but once the cockpit rose out it was revealed that her unit had been in a large hanger the entire time, hooked up to the base's computer systems as part of the training exercise. Mari's pink unit sat right next to hers and the other woman was also in the process of climbing out. Asuka's attention however was on the young man leaning over one of the consoles in front of her mech. When he looked up she flashed him a wide smile and a V. Shinji Ikari smiled back at her and waved.

With almost casual disregard for her own safety Asuka zipped down the side of the rack holding up her mech and skipped over to her boyfriend.

"So, was I magnificent or what?" she beamed.

Shinji chuckled. "You were great Asuka. And I think that set a new record for completion of that simulation."

"Well of course," Asuka said proudly. "Once you power through the defenses it's a straight shot to the target, easy peasy."

Mari cleared her throat behind the girl.

"And four-eyes did an okay job with her fire support," Asuka added.

"Princess, you wound me so," Mari said in mock indignation before chuckling. "But still, that was a good time. I wonder if it's because you're looking forward to next week, hmm?"

"Oh stuff it Mari," Asuka said despite chuckling herself. "Anyway, I'm gonna go catch a shower, this fake LCL stinks compared to the real thing."

It was an opinion Shinji shared and why he was grateful Asuka had enough self-restraint to not hug him after getting out of the Garde mech.

"We should be ready for the debriefing once you've freshened up," Shinji said. "After that we can go home."

"Good," Asuka said wholeheartedly as she headed towards the lockerrooms. "It's been a long day."

"I'll help scrub your back," Mari offered with a smirk.

"No, no you won't," Asuka's fading voice could be heard protesting.

Shinji smiled to himself as he turned his attention back to the large mech towering above him. At only 30 meters tall it was less than half the height of an EVA but the Garde Mk 1 was in many ways a much more lethal weapon of war. So much more lethal in fact that Shinji had initially been horrified at the existence of the designs in the Codex left behind by Soren and the others. But as he learned more about what else was in the Codex he was forced to grudgingly concede that humanity really did need the Gardes. Perhaps not now, but in the future. And seeing as there was no stopping Asuka from getting back into the hot seat he would be there to support her however he could, short of becoming an active pilot again himself.

As for the Garde itself, it was quite a marvel. Whereas the EVAs were effectively clones of an Adam, or Lilith in the case of Unit 01, a Garde was a biomechanical construct of a different nature. Its limbs were formed by artificial muscles controlled by an equally artificial nervous system and the two together made the Garde an extremely responsive system. It was also extremely difficult to control, the neural interface needing to effectively be synchronized to a pilot's own synaptic pattern. That process took time and while it was possible for pilots to swap machines, the experience tended to be unpleasant and effectiveness when plugged into a foreign neural network plummeted. A Garde's neural net could be reset to allow for a new pilot to imprint upon it and that was likely to be what would happen to the unit Shinji had used as a test platform. Only eighteen Gardes had been built thus far and the young man could not imagine WILLE simply letting one sit idle when it could be reset and a new pilot brought onboard to use it. After they did something about the purple paintjob.

"Alright, that should be about it," Shinji said as he finished transferring the telemetry from the simulation to his laptop. "Good work today Kitakami."

"Thank you sir," the young woman with dyed pink hair said chipperly.

Shinji closed his laptop and headed for the exit himself, passing several other Gardes running simulations along the way. Each Garde station had the name of its respect pilot stamped on a plate and the young man mentally read each one that he passed. K. Kirigaya. C. Hazama-Memphis. M. Lee Strasberg. Quite a few of the names were ones Shinji had known for many years now and he considered all of them good friends. In point of fact a good percentage of the Garde pilots were former Trident pilot trainees, an irony that was not lost upon the former trainees themselves. But the Gardes had been designed with the safety of its pilots as a foremost priority and Shinji was personally determined that no one would get hurt due to negligence or corner cutting. It was a heavy responsibility for someone who technically had just graduated from university but he had spent so many years around this sort of technology that Shinji was confident in his abilities to shoulder them. As he left the hanger he made his way to carry out another part of those duties, the after action debriefing of the simulation he had just helped run.

* * *

"Yes, we'll be gone for about two weeks. What? No, the wedding's the second week after we get there, the first week is making sure all the preparations are complete. Asuka's mom has been running around like crazy trying to pin everything down and I'm pretty sure she has everything in hand, but we'll be there to lend her ours for the final sprint. Alright, I'll pick up the prescription tomorrow, that should last me for when I'm over in Germany right? Thank you very much doctor, I hope you have a pleasant evening."

With those parting words Hikari hung up the phone and turned her wheelchair around before heading towards the bedroom. The motors were almost completely silent with barely a whine as they spun up but once she was moving they were effectively inaudible.

"Toji, have you finished packing?" Hikari Horaki called out.

"Uh, just about," the young man shouted back. "Just, trying to find where my extra ties are!"

"Bottom drawer on the left hand side," Hikari said as she rolled into the bedroom.

"Oh uh, thanks Hikari," one Toji Suzuhara replied as he pulled open said drawer. "Why do I need to take so many ties with me to Germany again?"

"There's a couple of receptions we're going to," Hikari said with an all too sweet smile. "What, were you planning on wearing the _same_ tie for all of them?"

"Not sure what's wrong with that," Toji muttered under his breath as he shoved the ties into his suitcase.

Hikari chuckled before ruefully regarding her boyfriend's attempt at packing. Things had been shoved in haphazardly to the point where she sincerely doubted Toji would be able to actually close the thing, much less find anything once they actually arrived in Germany. What to do, what to do. Hikari looked at the clock.

"Shouldn't you be going to pick up Sakura-chan?"

Her boyfriend's head snapped about. "Crap, you're right."

He bolted for the door but stopped long enough to lean over and give his girlfriend a parting kiss. Hikari obliged and after an all too brief moment of contact let him be on his way. Before the front door was even open she was next to the bed and busy untangling the massive wad of clothes. One by one she refolded them and set them neatly back into place. When she was done there was even space to spare and it was with some satisfaction that Hikari shut the suitcase closed with her own two hands.

* * *

As Shinji entered the apartment footsteps sounded and a happy squeal greeted him.

"Shinji-nii!"

The young man chuckled as an exuberant eigh year old girl charged at him and threw herself into his embrace.

"Welcome home!"

"I'm home, Madoka," Shinji said to his little sister.

"What's this, no hug for your big sis?" Asuka teased.

Madoka stuck her tongue out mischievously but still held out her arms to Asuka. The German woman ruffled the girl's hair but gave her a hug nonetheless.

"Shinji-nii," another voice greeted, this one also feminine but not quite as high pitched as Madoka's. "Welcome back."

"Ah, thank you for looking after Madoka, Sakura-chan," Shinji said to the teenage girl walking over. "Umm, will you be needing a ride back home?"

Sakura Suzuhara shook her head. "Nii-san said he was going to come pick me up." She paused thoughtfully. "Though he is late." The girl's cellphone beeped and she flipped it open. "Ah, he's on his way now."

Shinji nodded as he slipped off his shoes. "Alright. Well, no reason to stand around here waiting."

"Hey, when is Mama coming home?" Madoka asked.

Misato Katsuragi was these days a very busy woman. Now a major-general she served as the overall director of the UN Special Agency WILLE, NERV's successor in the defense of humanity. Much like its predecessor WILLE had several branches overseas, effectively inheriting NERV's old assets in Germany and the United States. The Chinese government had refused to contribute resources to the new effort so the old Beijing branch was the only NERV facility not under WILLE control, a point that was the cause of some not insignificant tension on the Security Council and the General Assembly. That of course was not the only matter that ate much of Misato's time and attention, more than the woman was really happy with.

"Umm, she said she would be back around the same time as us," Shinji said looking at his watch. "Did she get caught up with something else?"

Asuka snorted. "Knowing the good General? Almost certainly. You know how she's been trying to get as much work out of the way that she can for next week."

"I suppose," Shinji said.

"Awww, but she said we'd watch a movie together tonight!" Madoka protested.

Shinji gave his little sister an affectionate pat on the head. "I'm sure she'll be here, Madoka. Why don't we set up so that everything is ready when she gets back?"

"Alright!"

"So what were you going to watch?" Asuka asked the girl.

"Gojira!"

Asuka smiled ruefully. "Well it'll certainly be campy."

"I wonder where she gets her tastes from," Shinji idly wondered.

"Certainly not from Kaji," Asuka proclaimed confidently. "He had class."

Shinji chuckled. "So you think it's Misato's?"

Asuka nodded firmly. "Without a doubt."

* * *

A sneeze echoed in the massive chamber and Ritsuko Akagi turned towards her friend.

"Cold?"

"That or Asuka's trash talking me," Misato said wirily. "Let's get this over with though, being down here in the deep freeze is not my idea of fun. Especially since I'm supposed to be spending the evening with my daughter."

"I won't keep you for too long," Ritsuko said with a slight smile before her expression became somber as she gazed up at the massive creature before them. "I'm not exactly eager to be down here myself with this thing either."

Misato nodded in agreement. The Mark 06 had been kept in cryogenic stasis for the last eight years while NERV and then WILLE figured out what to do with it. Or rather how to destroy it safely. At first Misato had been flabbergasted as to why it had not been destroyed alongside the other EVAs and Lilith. As she, Ritsuko, and a few other trusted compatriots had dug through the collective's codex however they quickly discovered why. The collective had refrained from attempting to destroy the Mark 06 because they could not do so without triggering another energy reaction similar to what happened during Second Impact. Seeing as that would have pretty much finished off the human race, little wonder they left it behind for those native to the timeline to handle.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Misato asked.

"You know how there were four Adams in Antarctica when Second Impact triggered?"

Misato nodded. "Of course. One was implanted in Soren, another Ikari took for himself, and this is the third. The collective never did track down the last one."

"I think I might know where it is."

Misato blinked blankly for a few seconds. "You WHAT!?"

"Easy there," Ritsuko said. "I said I _think_ I know where it is, not that I'm one hundred percent certain."

"Alright, so where do you _think_ it is?"

"I think it's still down in Antarctica, at ground zero," Ritsuko said.

Her friend's eyes widened.

"Think about it," the doctor continued. "The collective was everywhere, they controlled Tabgha base on the moon and had people at every other branch. Amanda was Lorenz's own granddaughter. Do you really think they would have failed to dig up the location of the last Adams if SEELE really had it in their possession?"

"I, suppose so," Misato said. "But do you have anything concrete?"

"Yes," Ritsuko said to her friend's surprise. "Do you remember the Antarctica expedition Commander Ikari led to retrieve the Spear of Longinus?"

"Vaguely."

"They took a lot of sensor data while down there and on a hunch I fed it through the MAGI. It's faint and the signal strength is just above the threshold that we'd consider noise, but there is something with a blue pattern waveform down there."

Misato's eyes widened further. "Are you sure?"

"Sure enough that I think we should take a look," Ritsuko said. "If that Adams awakens, we could be in for a whole world of hurt."

"Definitely," Misato agreed. "The problem is getting down there, Antarctica is pretty much completely inhospitable to any sort of terrestrial life."

"We could use the _Wunder_," Ritsuko said. "It could get us there and back without any difficulty with its AT-field."

Misato chewed her lip. _Wunder_ was perhaps the most contentious of prizes acquired by NERV-Tokyo after SEELE's defeat. It was an extremely powerful warship, armed with four railgun batteries and an ion cannon that rivaled Ramiel's in power. Its AT-field made it effectively impervious to conventional arms and that combination of offensive and defensive strength made a lot of people nervous. The only real limitation it possessed was requiring someone born after Second Impact to pilot, though why was something they were still trying to dig out from the codex. And it was not just anyone born after Impact, thus far only the former EVA pilots and those who had been EVA pilot candidates could control the ark. Still that particular restriction had not been enough to placate certain nations and elements of the UN and it was really on the fact that a sizeable stockpile of anti-AT-field weaponry had been stockpiled that let others breathe somewhat easier. Plenty of restrictions had also been placed on usage of the ark as well.

"I'd have to clear it with the Security Council," Misato said.

"Geneva isn't that far from Berlin," Ritsuko said with a slight smile.

An eyebrow rose. "You do know that I'm going over there for my son's wedding, right?"

"I know, but the wedding itself isn't for another week after your arrival," Ritsuko said. "And besides, I doubt you'll have too much trouble convincing the Security Council with something this important."

Misato sighed. "Alright, I'll go talk to them."

"While you do that, do you mind if I at least start loading up the equipment we'll need?"

"Won't that be seen as jumping the gun?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko shrugged. "No reason to waste time dawdling."

"I suppose. What do you expect to need?"

"The only thing of note would be the Spear of Cassius," Ritsuko said, "in case we need to subdue to Adams."

"Gotcha. I'll probably want to mention that as well. But Longinus stays right here in Terminal Dogma, got it?"

"Of course," Ritsuko assured her friend. "I have no intention of causing another Impact-level event."

Misato gazed up at the dormant Mark 06. "I know."

* * *

The occupants of the conference room were perhaps being overly dramatic with the dimness of the lighting but none present cracked any jokes along that vein.

"Are our assets in place?" the woman at the head of the table asked.

"Yes. We've infiltrated operatives into position at the ark's dry-dock. When the time comes, they will be able to provide a brief window of opportunity before WILLE's response teams overrun them."

"Their sacrifice will not be forgotten," the woman assured.

The man acknowledged the sentiment with a nod.

"With most of WILLE's principles away in Germany on the target date we may never get another chance like this," the woman continued. "Dr. Akagi has stumbled upon the hints of the last of the progenitor and if WILLE succeeds in retrieving it, we will lose any hope of completing our mission."

Grumbles sounded all about the table. The woman leaned forward, her face peering out from the darkness.

"My family's legacy was to be the ascension of the human race," Maria Vincennes declared. "That ascension is not yet beyond our reach."

* * *

The BMW rolled to a stop and Shinji and Asuka climbed out, the girl cradling a bundle of flowers. The two walked silently through the gates, passing the rows of stone memorials until they reached a particular row. There they turned and made their way to a specific spot. On the well cared for stone was carved a name and dates. Yamagishi Mayumi. 2001 – 2015. Asuka knelt down and placed the flowers before the grave.

"Hello Mayumi," Shinji said with a gentle smile. "I'm back, again." A nudge poked him in the side. "I mean, we're back. You remember Asuka, right?"

The German woman smiled and even bowed slightly.

"Umm, we came here today because we wanted to share the news with you," Shinji went on, trying to keep his tone composed. "Tomorrow, we're heading to Germany for our wedding. We, visited you before after I proposed to Asuka, remember? And I asked for your blessing back then."

The man's voice cracked ever so slightly and Asuka took hold of his hand. Shinji squeezed back instinctively.

"Well, now that the day is almost upon us, we're here to ask for it again," Shinji said. "I, I hope you're out there, somewhere, watching over us, Mayumi. And I hope that you'll be happy with me and Asuka being together." The young man took a deep breath. "I'll never forget you Mayumi, and I'll never forget my love for you. And I want to thank you, for teaching me how to love."

The flowers rustled as a slight wind picked up. A few petals came loose and gently twirled about the tombstone.

"Don't worry," Asuka spoke up. "I'll take care of the baka, and I'll make sure that he's never hurt again."

The petals settled down. Shinji and Asuka bowed once more.

"I'm glad I met you Mayumi," Shinji said. "Thank you."

End of Epilogue Alpha

You guys didn't really think me not mentioning the Mark 06 amongst the destruction of the Evangelions was an oversight, did you? Kayabuki I did genuinely forget to insert a line for her, though that is fixed in my master draft.

I'm pretty sure it was made obvious that Third Impact happened in Amanda and Soren's original timelines. I do not believe any additional information is required to interpret the last two scenes of the previous chapter.

Epilogue Alpha could be considered a prologue for a theoretical sequel to _In Tune_, assuming I ever find the will to write it. _In Tune_ itself is over 370k words, which is starting to put me into David Weber or Robert Jordan ranges for story length, and that's without all of the stuff I either forgot to put in or ran out of time/energy to do. I have running notes in the master draft about stuff I forgot to do that I should do for a remaster. Even as is we might breach 380k with the next three epilogues.

A few more questions get answered, a few more loose ends tied up. And a whole lot of other questions probably created, though if you're having any difficulty figuring out just how Madoka-chan was conceived that is so completely on you.

Hmm, an ambiguous attitude toward my reviewers. I suppose that is a fair comment, I have made no secret of my frustration every time a request comes in to simplify things. I consider the best part about _In Tune_ to be its inherent complexity after all, its interweaving plotlines and all that. Another part of the frustration however is due to a belief on my part that any simplification from what I've currently done would severely undermine a major piece of realism that I want to achieve, specifically regarding the whole Peggy-Sue trope in the EVA fandom.

Most Peggy-Sue fics involve Shinji, or maybe Shinji and the other pilots, being sent back in time one way or another and somehow using their past knowledge to prevent Third Impact. To which I ask, what the hell are the pilots supposed to be able to accomplish against the likes of SEELE? Let us not forget that SEELE managed to orchestrate not only the creation of NERV and all the funding that the agency needed, they also somehow came up with the money to put the EVA series into production. Then there's their unstated but obvious influence over the UN and various world governments, including their ability to manipulate the Japanese government into sending in the JSSDF to mow down everyone at NERV-HQ.

Contrast that to the EVA pilots, who are good for basically only one thing, defeating the Angels. Sure defeating the Angels is a necessary prerequisite to completion of SEELE's plans, but unless the pilots are prepared to intentionally lose, and thus dooming humanity to extinction at the hands of the Angels instead of their fellow man, there's not much they themselves can do to disrupt SEELE's objectives. Recall that after the defeat of the Angels it was not as if SEELE had lost control of the rest of their puppets around the world. Gendo was a threat to SEELE because he knew enough and had enough pieces to try to hijack Instrumentality, but otherwise no one at NERV was really a threat to them. And even assuming the pilots knew who their real, final enemy was, what means did they have to strike back? Sure, maybe they could have defeated the EVA series, but again, so what? The rest of the world under SEELE's control is still there and you can bet SEELE would have been able to cook up enough excuses to get everyone else to try to dogpile NERV out of fear and hysteria over what NERV might do with the EVAs.

Not everyone in the fandom tries to hand wave the above points away. Some try to come up with alternative networks of resistance or build up opposition against SEELE entirely separate from the pilots. This is done with varying levels of success and ultimately one of the bigger difficulties is coming up with something that could actually take down SEELE realistically. There was an old trilogy of fics involving a Shinji/Hikari pairing that had a subversive group of basically hackers working to take down SEELE. That was probably the weakest element of what was otherwise an enjoyable story. _Once More With Feeling_ has Shinji go to Kaji, who then goes to the Japanese government, who then apparently starts preparing to off SEELE. Better, though I am ambivalent about whether the Japanese government alone would be able to do much of anything against SEELE. After all, the council is international in nature with levers of control in many countries across the world, several of which are major powers rivaling or surpassing Japan.

When I set out to write _In Tune_ I decided first and foremost that I wanted to make sure that SEELE's defeat was not just some deus ex hand wave, that the forces opposing SEELE could credibly be considered strong enough to take on the council and win. Hence why I made the opposition basically a third column within SEELE's own ranks. They would have access to SEELE's own resources and levers and also be plugged into what SEELE was doing. And creating a believable third column necessitated a certain degree of complexity, any decrease thereof would have undermined the entire concept. And I don't really see how the sidestepper thing is that complex at all, Amanda pretty much explained it in blunt and simple terms a couple of chapters back.

Anyway, three more epilogues to go. Drop a line of what you all think. And I shift gears to _A Cold Calculus_.

Sidenote: I have a blanket policy of not accepting any story requests.


	49. Epilogue Beta

Epilogue Beta 2028

"-and with the completion of the Kaguya mass driver, the stars are now firmly within humanity's reach."

Applause sounded as Frederica Greenfield-Yang completed her speech. The camera pulled back to show the platform she stood on and then the audience of dignitaries that were present for the event. The broadcast then shifted back to a news studio where a well made up woman began speaking.

"And that was the ceremony at the Kaguya mass driver held last week, presided by UN Secretary-General Greenfield-Yang. Dignitaries worldwide were on hand to celebrate the mass driver being declared operational. The General Assembly has also passed a resolution to establish a United Nations Space Command to provide a centralized command structure for all UN space assets, with many expecting WILLE director Lieutenant-General Katsuragi to be appointed head of the command.

"In domestic news, Prime Minister Kayabuki has announced that she will be retiring at the conclusion of her current term of office. The prime minister has held her position for thirteen years and was praised by senior members of the LDP for having seen the party and Japan through the tumultuous period following the conclusion of the Angel War and the subsequent SEELE Insurrection."

"TV off."

The holographic projection, not really a TV but the term was still used, flickered and died as the voice command was acknowledged. Shinji finished tying the ribbon bow and checked the time. It was still a bit early but no one would give him grief for clocking out early on a day like this. After making sure his workstation was locked down he exited his very spacious office and headed for the operations section. Even within Central Dogma security was still tight and so he was stopped at a checkpoint, politely of course, until he swiped his ID. Once his identification was confirmed the guard offered a sharp salute.

"Director Ikari."

"Corporal," Shinji returned with a nod.

It was half past four so Asuka was supposed to be in an operations meeting, not that she would mind if he dropped in. Or maybe she would as the yelling got louder the closer he got to the conference room. He thought these places were supposed to be soundproof, not that he could make out any of the actual words.

"-and the next time we run this simulation I this sorry excuse for a time slashed by half!" the woman's voice thundered as Shinji entered.

Those facing in his direction looked positively relieved at seeing him though with her back to him Asuka was not yet aware of his presence.

"Asuka?"

The woman twirled around, her good eye widened in surprise at hearing her name.

"Shinji? What are you doing here?"

Shinji held up the wrapped present. "Was wondering if you wanted to clock out early today, if you're not too busy that is."

Asuka glanced at her watch and scowled. "Damn, it's this late already?" She turned back towards the table and put on her good girl expression. "Colonel Hyuga, could we perhaps conclude here and pick up next meeting?"

Hyuga cleared his throat and nodded. "I see no problem with that, Major Shikinami. Meeting adjourned."

The other attendees began vacating the room with undue haste, most of them at least. Hyuga offered Shinji an amused smile before leaving while two of the other attendees walked over to the couple.

"Good timing sensei," Toji said. "Your wife was getting ready to rip us a new one-urk."

Asuka made sure to grind the heel of her boot thoroughly on the boy's foot.

"Do take care with your language, _Captain_ Suzuhara," Asuka said with a beatific smile.

Mana simply chuckled at the two's antics before turning to Shinji.

"Done with your work already, Shinji-kun?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah, I made sure I cleared out everything that needed doing," Shinji said with a grin. "Anyway, shall we?"

"I've got shotgun!" Mana declared.

"No you don't," Asuka snapped. "Unless you want me to be driving."

The other woman stuck out a tongue. "You're not supposed to be driving anymore."

Asuka smirked and tapped the left side of her head nonchalantly. "I'm deputy director of the operations section. That means I can do anything I want."

"Like you need any excuse," Toji said.

The cry that sounded this time was much louder.

* * *

"Is Hikari bringing Souji herself?" Shinji asked as he pulled the BMW out of its parking spot.

"Nah, Sakura's coming with them," Toji said from the back. "Actually, she should be there already, they were gonna help with the decorating."

"So have you been able to keep the party a surprise from Aki-chan?" Mana asked, having settled for sitting behind Shinji if she could not be next to him.

Shinji chuckled. "She's trying to pretend she doesn't know, but she knows."

"And I'm sure it's not because stooge junior blabbed or anything," Asuka said from up front.

"What was that? You think my boy can't keep his mouth shut?" Toji demanded.

"You guys we're in a car," Shinji interjected before the argument could escalate to physical levels.

Asuka sniffed but refrained from further snark. The rest of the drive went more peacefully, or as peacefully as it could with this combination of riders, as the conversation drifted towards work. As Shinji was in the technical department he was not privy to all of the details of what operations got up to even with what Asuka would tell him at home. Conversely Mana and Toji were almost completely out of the loop on what the technical department might be up to save for the things that directly impacted their own work.

"-and so the new neural interface should be ready for deployment next month," Shinji summed up. "Oh, that reminds me, Toji, make sure that Hikari knows to schedule an appointment to upgrade the system she's using. This one should allow for much smoother motion."

"Gotcha," Toji said, pulling out a smartphone and typing up a note to himself.

"Any new toys that the regiment'll get to play with?" Mana asked.

"Umm, not really, sorry Mana," Shinji said apologetically. "But, didn't we just deliver the Mark IV powered armor last month?"

"Well yeah, but now that we've seen what the technical department can do all of the guys are just drooling over what you'll cook up next."

"They're not the only ones drooling are they, Major Kirishima?" Asuka said with a smirk.

"I do not drool," Mana said primly. "I anticipate with eagerness."

Both Asuka and Toji snorted at the response while Shinji allowed an amused smile. Further conversation was forestalled however as the BMW dipped down into the parking ramp and maneuvered through the garage. Not that many spots were filled at the moment, but that would change as the evening settled in and more families got home. The housing complex, one of the nicest ones in the rebuilt Tokyo-3, was dedicated solely to WILLE personnel and had security measure in place to make sure no one could harm the residents. It was perhaps a sign of the times that the residents did not pay much mind to the armed soldiers that manned the checkpoints surrounding the community but no one was prepared to risk a repeat of what happened five years ago.

"Here," Shinji said, handing the present off to Mana. "We're going to freshen up a bit and bring Aki-chan over in thirty. If anything comes up, let us know."

"Yes sir," Mana said with a mock salute.

The party split off once they reached their floor with Shinji and Asuka headed to their apartment while Toji and Mana to where the party would be held. As they opened the door the sound of footsteps could be heard and a young girl with dark red hair dashed over.

"Mama! Papa!"

Asuka smiled and bent down to swoop her daughter into her arms. "Hey there Autumn, you've been a good girl today?"

Autumn Ikari, called by everyone except her mother Aki-chan, smiled brightly and nodded. "You can ask Madoka-oba! I've been a very good girl!"

"It's Madoka-nee," a seemingly exasperated voice protested as the girl in question appeared in the hallway. "I'm too young to be an oba-san."

Autumn giggled and hid her face in her mother's hair.

"Thanks for looking after her," Shinji said to his younger sister.

"No problem Shinji-nii," Madoka said with a smile of her own. "So long as you remember what's coming up next month."

Shinji chuckled wirily. "Yes, I won't forget."

"Mama and Papa need to freshen up a bit, and then we're all going out for dinner," Asuka said as she put Autumn down, "so hold on for just a bit okay?"

"Okay!"

The energetic girl raced back to the living room and returned to the video game she was playing with PenPen. Asuka raised the eyebrow on her good eye.

"Is it just me or is that penguin getting smarter as he gets older?"

"Not sure he's getting any older," Shinji said offhandedly. "I swear he's immortal."

"Did Mom say if she was going to make it for tonight?" Madoka asked.

"She got held back at the conference in Geneva," Shinji said. "She was, less than happy about it and I think the Security Council will be paying more attention to her schedule in the future."

Madoka smiled wirily. "That's Mom alright. Too bad, she really wanted to be here."

"And Aki-chan would have wanted that too," Shinji agreed. "I'm sure Mom'll figure out a way to make it up to her."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Madoka said dryly, eliciting chuckles from the adults.

Half an hour later after the adults had gotten a change of clothes and PenPen and Autumn's match concluded, where the penguin somehow managed to engineer a convincing narrow loss, the quartet of humans plus one avian left the apartment and headed down the hall to one just a few doors down. Autumn was almost brimming with excitement even before they heard the noise emanating from their destination. Once they were before it Shinji gave his daughter a sly smile before knocking on the door three times. There was no immediate answer but a few seconds later the lock clicked and the door opened to reveal a gaggle of kids waiting behind.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Autumn squealed in delight and rushed in to join her friends while the adults simply smiled at the sight. Eventually they were able to herd the kids into the living room where an assortment of balloons and ribbons were festooned to the walls and ceilings.

"I see you went all out," Shinji remarked.

"Yes well I expect you'll be on hand for Souji's birthday as well," Hikari said with a smile before walking over to the kitchen.

The evening passed quickly with the kids playing games and munching happily on snacks before being called over to enjoy the large cake Rei brought out. Shinji had to admit, his other sister had a way with baked sweets that he would never match. Even as the kids played the adults hung out in their own corners, rotating who watched over the rambunctious crowd.

"But man, I gotta say, that wife of yours is a slave driver," Toji said. "She's planning a twelve hour simulation next week, how does she even find the time to put those together?"

"I have no idea," Shinji admitted. "Sometimes I think her brain's a computer and when she's asleep it's precomputing everything she wants to do when awake."

"That's not a very nice thing to say about Asuka-san," a voice said from behind, causing the men to start.

"Oh, Asuna-san," Shinji said with a wary smile. "I, didn't know you were there."

"I somehow guessed that," Asuna said with a smirk before glancing at her own husband. "Kirito-kun, Yui-chan's starting to get sleepy."

"Alright, I'll go get her stuff," Kazuto said.

"So you still call him by his net nick," Kensuke said with bemusement.

"Well it's his fault for introducing himself that way," Asuna said with a huff.

"Yes, yes, everything's always the guy's fault," Kazuto said with a grin.

Ignoring her husband's quip Asuna turned to Shinji. "Thank you for inviting Yui-chan, she had a lot of fun."

"No, thank you for coming," Shinji replied. "I'm sure Aki-chan was glad to share today with all her friends. Oh, before you two go, there's an announcement we wanted to make."

"Oh? Okay."

Shinji walked over to the living room and using a metal spoon he tapped the rim of his glass. The ting rung loudly enough to even cut through the chattering of the kids.

"Aki-chan, come over here for a sec," Shinji said.

The little girl did so, her crimson eyes wide in curiosity as to what her father had to say. Asuka walked over and picked up her daughter.

"I know it's getting late and some of you will be leaving soon," Shinji said, "but before you do Asuka and I have a little announcement."

The guests, adults and children both, faced the family with anticipation as to the news.

"Autumn," Asuka said to her daughter, "in a few months from now you're going to become a big sister."

The girl looked at her mother in confusion while more than a few gasps sounded from the adults. Shinji wrapped an arm around his wife and smiled widely.

"That's right, Asuka and I are expecting our little family here to grow," he said happily.

Applause sounded, first from the women and then from the men. The children simply looked on politely, a bit too young to truly grasp the relevance of what was going on but aware that this was somehow important.

"Congratulations," Hikari said. "Do you know whether Aki-chan's getting a little brother or sister?"

Shinji and Asuka exchanged knowing looks before the redhead turned to her friend with a joyous smile. "Both."

* * *

The evening was coming to a close and a sleepy Autumn was tucked away by her mother. The little girl was asleep even before the blanket was pulled over her and Asuka gave her daughter a goodnight kiss for good measure while Shinji watched from the doorway.

"She's growing so quickly," he remarked. "Before long she'll be just like you when we first met."

"You've got close to a decade before then," Asuka reminded her husband. "And if you miss diaper duty you'll be getting lots of practice soon enough."

"No, I do _not_ miss diaper duty," Shinji said emphatically even as he grinned.

The man drew his wife in and held her tightly in his arms.

"We've been through a lot."

"Hmm," Asuka agreed. "But it was all worth it. Every scar, every loss, it was all worth it."

"Yeah, it was," Shinji said. "I might not have agreed back then, but we're who we are because of everything that's happened. And looking at Aki, it was worth it."

Asuka snuggled in her husband's arms contentedly. "You know, if things had turned out different, you might be holding someone else."

Shinji gently stroked her hair. "But I'm not."

The woman smiled and looked up. "No, you're not."

Hands clasped together the two headed for their own bedroom. Along the way they passed a wall full of photos, memorizing countless events in their life. A photo of their wedding, and then the wedding of their various friends. Of Autumn's birth, of the pilots of the Garde Corps all gathered together. Of the arrival of Shinji's little sister, of the visits with the Langley household in Germany. And at the end, a single picture from so long ago where a bunch of kids visited a marine preserve and took a commemorative photo. All of them were smiling, ready to take on whatever the world had to throw at them. Much had changed since that fateful day, bonds forged, broken, and renewed. Yet the smiles there did not fade away, instead looking upon what these children had become and offering their blessings.

End of Epilogue Beta

I've added years to the epilogue titles so that it's clear just when these are taking place. The previous epilogue took place in 2023.

Anyway, this epilogue could be considered the epilogue of the hypothetical sequel to _In Tune_. I decided to put it out because I have no idea if I'll ever actually write said sequel and I didn't think it fair that I leave things hanging with a massive cliffhanger like I did in the previous epilogue. Not that you guys have any idea how the actual situation was resolved since I intentionally did not provide any details on that. This epilogue does however provide what I consider to be the 'happy' ending to the current generation of pilots that neither the last chapter nor the previous epilogue provided since there were so many loose threads.

The scene with Hikari and Toji in the last chapter was intentionally ambiguous as to whether she's actually living with him or she's just over to help him pack for the trip to Germany. It could really be interpreted either way. The way I wrote Hikari I tried to avoid the completely flat straitlaced character that canon often portrays her as. As some of you may have noticed my version of Hikari was perfectly willing to resort to minor blackmail to keep Kensuke and Toji in line and she participated in the note exchanges for the history lectures with the other girls. Hikari has a strong sense of duty, but I wanted my version to show a certain degree of flexibility. So, it's up to all of you to interpret that scene however you wish, at least until I definitively answer it if I write the sequel. That and keep in mind she did nearly die. I'm told that near-death experiences tend to, shift a person's perspective.

Regarding Madoka. Consider the timing of when Misato found out she was pregnant. And consider who Misato was sleeping with.

I do not dispute the fact that the Children could probably prevent Third Impact, or at least delay it. But stopping Third Impact is not the same as defeating SEELE, not by a long shot. That is the point that I believe too many fans gloss over when they try to write a story with a happy ending for the pilots.

Anyway, two more epilogues to go. The next two involve major timeskips so will not involve the current set of characters. Or, at least not the current set from this timeline.


	50. Epilogue Gamma

Epilogue Gamma 2270

Thunk.

"Au! Verdammte Scheisse, blödes verdammtes Scheißteil!"

A long string of expletives was hurled by the red-haired youth at the bunkbed that had the temerity of being above her own. After a few moments nursing her head the young woman's ears perked as she realized just why she had awaken with such a start. The general quarters klaxons were blaring, without the three sharp beeps to indicate it was a drill. Another burst of curses escaped the girl as she pulled herself out and floated out and flung herself out of the room. Personnel were scrambling to their stations and the girl quickly tied her shoulder length hair into a bun before arriving at the lockers. The rest of the squad was already there and changing into their plugsuits.

"A bit late there, princess," one of her fellow pilots said with grin.

The smirk that appeared in response was not playful in the least but the woman did not directly respond.

"What's the status," she said instead as she began to strip.

"Four contacts," a cool and collected voice answered, "Command has ordered Talon and Rapier squadrons to engage. Dragon is to launch but remain on standby unless Talon and Rapier require assistance."

The woman frowned as she considered the news. Talon squad was a fairly experienced unit commanded by a competent leader while Rapier was one of the newly established squads transferred in from Earth a few weeks back. While full of enthusiasm they had yet to face the enemy in actual combat. Still between the two squadrons they would have twelve Guardians versus four gauna. That was three to one odds so it should be a fairly easy first blooding for Rapier squad, in theory. But as indicated by the orders given to her own squad Sidonia Command was not going to take any chances of the gauna springing some surprise and getting a clear shot at the base if they somehow managed to blow past Talon and Rapier.

The woman pressed the button on her wrist and the plugsuit sunk in into its form fitting configuration. She grabbed her helmet and turned to the rest of her pilots, the women at least.

"Alright, move out."

"Ma'am!"

The others hurried out but one with an azure bobbed haircut lingered just slightly. The squadron leader smiled, causing her freckles to shift, and gave her wingman a pat on the shoulder.

"I know you've got my back Yui, and I have yours."

The other woman regarded her superior officer for a moment before nodding firmly. "Understood, Asuka."

Asuka Soryu gave Yui Ichijo another pat on the shoulder before putting on her own helmet. The two hurried down to the hanger and slid into their respective Guardians. As Asuka sank into her seat she felt the plugs attach to the back of her suit and the LCL begin flowing in. The initial moment when it filled her helmet her vision clouded just a bit before the vision system compensated and she was presented with a full view of the outside of her Guardian as if it were her personally sitting on the launch rail instead of the mech.

"Dragon squad, you are cleared for launch," flight control informed them over the radio.

No further words were exchanged and one by one the rest of her squad was positioned on the launch rails. To her irritation doctrine dictated that the squad leader could not be the first one out the gate and so she had to wait until two of the other Guardians launched before it was her turn. And then her body slammed back into her chair as her mech was sent speeding along the magnetic track. Effectively a small mass driver, she was sent flying out of Sidonia base and quickly took up her position in lead of the others.

Now in the void of space Asuka brought up the tactical overlay. Something that most people on Earth underestimated was the sheer vastness of the void. They were technically in the asteroid belt, yes, but the nearest asteroid was still a mere speck in her eye. Talon and Rapier squads were already off in the distance, their exhaust a receding bright dot. Only the presence of their IFFs allowed her to keep a firm lock on their position. As for the gauna.

"Magnification, target designate alpha."

The Guardian's computer complied and projected a stream of four insect-like creatures floating through space. Sidonia base had a veritable fleet of recon drones sweeping the surrounding space and humanity had had plenty of practice learning how to quickly detect gauna over the past century since their intrusion upon Sol.

"I wonder what they're up to," Asuka said aloud.

"Does seem a tad small for a raid," one of her squadmates remarked. "Think they're testing us?"

"That would be something new," Asuka said. "So far the gauna haven't really show much in the way of strategy, just tactics."

"Well maybe we're doing too good a job of teaching them. We've spent the last fifty years just sitting around on the defense when we should be going after that mass union ship."

That Asuka could not dispute but that decision was well above her paygrade and while the rank and file could get away with openly questioning policy decisions an officer of her position could not so she kept mum on the topic. Of course for all they knew there was a plan to go after the mass union ship, it was just taking a while to equip an expedition that travel out of the inner solar system. Or maybe the bean counters had decided that waiting for the mass union ship to get closer to them would be more economical, though Asuka hoped the Admiralty would have moved heaven and earth to disabuse the accounts of that dubious wisdom.

Indicators started popping up, notifying Asuka that Talon and Rapier had engaged the enemy. The skirmish itself was too far way for Asuka to get a detailed view of the action with her limited tactical feed but the broad strokes were evident. The gauna had split into two pairs and Talon and Rapier had followed suit, each squad focusing on their own targets. For purely biological entities the gauna were remarkably capable, able to match and even sometimes exceed the performance of a Guardian mech. And despite the advances in material science humanity had yet to develop an armor able to withstand the assortment of bladed edges a gauna could sport so standard practice was to try and engage the creatures at range, chewing away the placenta that composed the majority of a gauna's body before delivering the coup de grace with the special AAF ammo first developed for use against active AT-fields.

That the only thing humanity possessed that could destroy a gauna's core, short of a high density positron beam, was the AAF suggested to many people that these gauna were perhaps the matured form of Adam derived lifeforms. The few intact samples retrieved were supportive of this hypothesis but supportive did not equate definitive.

"They're taking a while," another pilot remarked.

Asuka frowned. That was true, two gaunas versus six Guardians? That should have been resolved fairly quickly if only because of the amount of overlapping fire the Guardians could produce. As it was Talon squadron was zipping back and forth trying to nail their targets while the less experienced Rapier was sprawled out across a wide area trying to do the same. Finally one of Talon's targets went dark, indicating its destruction. The survivor continued to engage, seemingly focused on Talon lead as the rest of the squad maneuvered about to avoid hitting their own CO with their shots.

Suddenly a signal from Rapier squad disappeared.

"The hell?" Asuka exclaimed.

Even worse, it was Rapier leader. With their commanding officer gone the movements of the rest of the squad became even more erratic.

"Shit, command this is Dragon lead, request permission to reinforce Rapier squad."

"Standby." The wait was brief. "Permission denied, hold your present position."

"What!? Are you bloody serious!?"

"Order stands," the operator replied, "hold your present position."

With a growl Asuka keyed back her engines. If they had gotten permission to go her squad could have reached Rapier in a minute, a minute and a half tops. Instead they were forced to hang back for god knows what and watch the green squad scramble trying to cope with the loss of their commander. From the rough distance numbers it was clear the squad was moving further away, likely trying to chase down the gauna that had killed their comrade. What worried Asuka however was the approximate location numbers for the gaunas. All three had effectively broken off and were making a mad dash further away from Sidonia. Past experience showed that gaunas never retreated, they only pulled back so as to maneuver for a new attack. Even stranger the two gaunas that had been engaging Rapier squadron appeared to have split up. Why in the world were they doing that?

Alarms blared in Asuka's cockpit as suddenly a mass of red appeared on her tactical feed.

"Verdammte Scheisse!"

"New contacts!" the operator announced perhaps somewhat unnecessarily over the command channel. "Multiple new contacts! Detecting thirty-four gaunas advancing!"

"How the hell did we not see them!?" Asuka demanded of no one in particular.

"It does not matter," Yui stated calmly as ever. "They are here and we must fight."

Asuka grimaced. "Yeah, and this is not going to be pretty."

Both Talon and Rapier squadron had stopped their pursuit and were even now racing back towards Sidonia. Rapier had been too far ahead however and within seconds another signal disappeared. Despite the risk to themselves Talon slowed ever so slightly to provide cover fire for their comrades. At the same time Asuka watched as new signals appeared around her as Sidonia began launching the rest of the Guardian wing. A total of eight squadrons were stationed at the asteroid base making for a total of forty-eight Guardians when at full strength. They were already down to forty-six and before the day was over Asuka was grimly certain the numbers would see further diminishment. Another member of Rapier squadron fell victim to the oncoming gauna.

"All pilots assume bombardment formation," came the orders.

Asuka and her own squad obeyed quickly and the thirty-six Guardians maneuvered into a six by six square grid. Telemetry from all of their sensors was merged and further complemented by Sidonia's own arrays and the drones recording the battle. Targeting data flowed past Asuka's tactical display and the woman aligned her own cannon to match the designated vector. With this many gauna incoming the only way they would survive would be if they could whittle the enemy numbers down enough that they could engage with far greater numerical superiority once the gauna crossed the kill zone.

"Open fire!"

In space there was no medium to carry sounds and the designers of the Guardians had not seen fit to bother outfitting the machines with a system to simulate the sound of explosions. Each pilot could still feel their unit firing however, even if there was no time to actually follow the path of their shots to see whether they hit or not. The tactical system continued feeding in a stream of targets, concentrating fire on the most probable to hit and allocating the available firepower accordingly. The number of gaunas began to slowly drop as the vanguard ran into a wave of railgun fire, pummeled into tangled clumps of placenta before a second wave ruptured the exposed cores. Confirmation of foam disintegration came in but none of the pilots had time to pay them any heed. The number of confirmed kills was rising all too slowly for them to feel any sense of triumph after all.

Rapier squadron was down to a third of its original strength now but the survivors alongside Talon squadron had finally managed to disengage and were racing for the relative safety of the rest of the wing. The gauna seemed to ignore them now, instead focusing solely on closing the distance with Sidonia's defenders.

Asuka's expression twisted in concentration as she shifted from target to target. Another thirty seconds and the formation would need to disperse but they had only reduced the enemy down to thirty-one contacts. Thirty. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven.

"All units scatter!" the wing commander ordered.

The Guardians obeyed, each squad forming up even as the wider formation broke up. The gauna however moved as if a single entity, all of them charging after a single squad.

"Katana squadron, you've got trailers!"

"We see them, since they're so eager to play let's see if they can keep up. We'll act as bait, you guys pick them off our tail!"

"Acknowledged, all units engage at will and watch each other's backs!"

"Roger!"

Even as Katana squad began running for dear life the other Guardians turned about, bathing the gauna in overlapping fields of fire. The gauna however responded by shifting their own formation, rotating their numbers about to absorb the incoming fire. This was not enough to completely negate the combined fire but the rate at which they were able to strip away the placenta plummeted.

"What the hell," Asuka cursed. "When did they start pulling tricks like this!?"

"Looks like today's the day princess," one of her squadmates said.

"This is Talon squad, we're joining in," another voice cut in before Asuka could reply.

Not just Talon, the survivors of Rapier were also in range and joined their firepower into the bombardment being laid down. Twenty-five now.

"GAAAH-"

Asuka grimaced as the scream from one of Katana's pilots was abruptly cut off. Despite the loss the rest of the squad kept running, understanding full well that turning to try to avenge their comrade would only see themselves overwhelmed by the gauna. Suddenly a third of the gauna split off and surged towards another squad.

"Shit! They're coming-"

The squad leader had no time to finish his sentence as suddenly his own signal disappeared. The rest of the squad dispersed, trying to put distance between themselves and their attackers but not entirely succeeding as two more of their numbers fell.

Asuka's eyes narrowed. "They're going for the squad leaders. Colonel! They're going for the squad leaders!"

"I see it," the wing commander said. "All units reform formation, they're trying to pick off the squads one by one."

The squadrons began converging once more, or at least trying to. The gauna swarm dispersed at the same time and soon each squad had a couple trying to disrupt their formations.

"Persistent bastards," Asuka cursed. "Star formation, clockwise rotation!"

"Roger!"

The five units that made up Dragon squad formed into a loose circle around her unit and began spinning. Each of her squadmates had their Guardian partially slaved to her, keeping their unit in formation but still allowing a certain degree of freedom of maneuver. Together the squad formed a tight shell that ducked and weaved as one while covering every vector of approach the gaunas could take. The other squadrons could be seen trying to do much the same but were just a tad slower off the mark. That difference soon became telling as a few more signals disappeared from the tactical feed. The wing was starting to claw back together however as its units coalesced into a single group once more. The price was heavy though with over a quarter of their numbers down with twenty gaunas still hounding them.

"All units begin falling back towards Sidonia," the wing commander ordered. "The station's guns will provide covering fire."

Asuka scowled. Was the situation really that desperate? If they actually moved the battle closer to the station they would be risking a gauna managing to burrow into it. If that happened it would be an absolute massacre before they could dig it out. But looking at the current numbers it was becoming abundantly clear that yes, things really might be that bad. They were down to thirty-two Guardians and not whittling down the number of gaunas nearly quickly enough. If this kept up Sidonia might not have any intact squadrons by the end of the battle.

"Dual or trio formations," the wing commander continued on.

Asuka maneuvered her unit closer to Yui's and reached out with her mech's hands. Yui's grabbed on and once the two were secure they hit their boosters in sync and roared away from the battle. The rest of her squad was right behind and soon enough bright lights marking the drive missions of other Guardian pairs or trios were streaking after them. The gauna could not match their speed and fell behind but they still kept coming. The Guardians would have a bit of time to set up once at their target location, but not much.

"This is turning out to be a really shitty day," a squadmate remarked.

Asuka was inclined to agree but still needed to play the role expected of her. "Cut the chatter. Get into firing positions and wait for my order."

There was no time to set up another unified formation for synchronized bombardment so each squad did the best they could, linking to each other in smaller nets and peppering the advancing gauna. The decrease in density severely curtailed their overall effectiveness but Asuka at least had the satisfaction of seeing one of the creatures disintegrate along its approach. And then Sidonia's railgun batteries opened up, the far more powerful cannons mounted on the asteroid completely shredding a gauna's placenta shell with only a single hit. Positron beams lashed out against the vulnerable cores and three more foam disintegrations were confirmed. Sixteen gauna remaining against thirty-two Guardians. Two to one odds now yet no one was about to celebrate just yet.

As the gauna closed in the swarm dispersed once more, forcing the Guardians to similarly split up and give chase. They could not risk any slipping through unnoticed to hit the station itself but being so separated they were vulnerable to the bait and switch tactics the gauna had already employed with such deadly effectiveness. Sidonia's own defenses also lit up but the lighter guns that were fast enough to traverse after a gauna could not match their larger brethren in destructive power. It was still a nice addition however and Asuka noted with satisfaction as another gauna disintegrated under the combined fire from her squad and the station defenses. The satisfaction quickly disappeared as another Guardian signal disappeared.

The radio crackled. "Sidonia station, this is Wisteria squadron, come in."

Asuka's eyes widened as she looked about toward the new contacts. Six, no twelve, no eighteen Guardians raced towards them in a single clasp formation. They dispersed in one smooth motion upon reaching the battlefield and bathed a pair of gauna with withering fire. Two more foam disintegrations were confirmed. It was not just Wisteria squadron, two others had accompanied it. Asuka grinned. The 2nd Patrol Fleet had arrived.

Some distance off, too far to help but closing fast, a trio of warships were tagged by the tactical display. _Izanagi, Izanami, _and _Kusanagi's_ IFFs were broadcasting loud and clear. The grin grew wider. The odds were looking a lot better now. Asuka punched the acceleration on her Guardian and charged forth once more. Victory after all came to those who sought it out.

End of Epilogue Gamma

Ahem. I present a timeskip of over two hundred forty years. Suffice it to say that Shinji's generation is long dead, though their descendants are still hanging around. I'll leave all of you to speculate as to who left descendants and etc. This is a snippet for a second hypothetical sequel to _In Tune_, though whether it's a prologue or from the middle of the story or whatever is kind of up in the air. And the chances of me ever getting around to it are slim to none. Which is something of a shame since I think I hinted at so many things in this short snippet that some of you are probably very eager to learn more about the premise.

I've already established a habit of borrowing characters from other franchises. There is a rationale for each one, they're not completely random. The character sheet that will be published with the next set of author notes will have snippets for my rationale for each named character. Unnamed ones I'm leaving vague in case I ever do get around to writing more and I want the flexibility to make changes as needs arise.

Anyone, one more epilogue to go. Let me know what you all think.

I wonder what it takes these days to get an actual tropes page.


	51. Epilogue Delta

Epilogue Delta 854 M41

"Admiral Rokubungi, CIC has completed analysis of the sensor telemetry from the probes."

The broad-shouldered man in the formal dress of a lord admiral of the Imperial Fleet nodded towards the rating that delivered the message.

"Notify my squadron commanders that I want all of them online for a briefing in ten minutes," Shinji ordered.

"Yes sir."

In the end it only took five for the senior officers of Battlefleet Dammerung to all connect to the command network and over a dozen faces were projected with crystal clarity to one side of the command station Shinji stood at.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he greeted, "the time draws near when we will be called upon to face the Tyranid threat once more. We have twice turned back the xenos scourge on a grand scale and defeated countless other smaller fleets. Now however we face a threat equal if not even greater than that presented by Behemoth and Kraken. Tarsis Ultra has already paid heavily to stymie the hive fleet's advance but if we do not stop them here in the void then there may well be no stopping Leviathan from advancing upon Terra herself."

Grim nods agreed with the admiral's words, from the commanders of his battle squadrons to the officers commanding his escort flotillas. Shinji nodded in turn before looking over at another officer on his command bridge.

"Commodore, if you would."

"My lord," the officer said and the attention of the attendees shifted to him as he worked his console. "At present the hive fleet seems to still be unaware of our location, though they did notice the presence of our probes. Our scouts were however able to avoid detection. With ansible communication increasingly unreliable thanks to the gravitational warping effects of the Tyranid narvhal and the shadow blocking our psykers, the information presented here is already several days out of date. It does however represent our most complete picture of what we will be facing."

A projection appeared on the main holographic display and each of the attending officers were sent the same data for local viewing. Frowns and tightened lips greeted what they saw.

"The sensor telemetry returned by the scouts indicate that the hive fleet we face has approximately forty-six hive ships. Escort numbers are more tentative but CIC's confidence is high that there are more than two hundred smaller bio-ships in the fleet."

Which actually put the two forces at near parity when it came to raw numbers with the battlefleet having a slight advantage. However quantity was never the whole story, quality also played a bit part. There was nearly a hundred cruisers under Shinji's command and nearly twice that many escorts. But it was the capital ships that might well prove decisive and here the battlefleet only had twenty-four, split into three squadrons of eight plus an assortment of smaller vessels serving as screening elements. Nearly two-to-one odds against the fleet. But then there was the _Dammerung_ herself, of which Battlefleet Dammerung was a namesake of.

At ten times the length of a standard battleship and five times the width at its widest point, the _Dammerung_ was the first of its class and one of the rarest warships in the entire Imperial Navy. Only eight had been built over the twelve millennia since the _Dammerung_ herself but each one represented a monumentally powerful weapons platform. Combined with the refits of newer weapons each underwent every few centuries, a single one of the massive dreadnoughts could engage entire fleets alone and emerge effectively unscathed. And then there was its primary gun, a mass driver capable of accelerating a projectile half the length of a frigate to several percentages the speed of light when first constructed. Since the Dammerung's last major refit five centuries ago, the top speed had increased to near luminal velocities. These days the biggest problem really was just finding a target they could use to test fire the weapon to make sure it was still working without the risk of giving someone a really nasty surprise a few decades or even centuries later unintentionally. There were also very strict regulations regarding the use of the weapon in an inhabited system seeing as the weapon could easily crack the mantle of a planet. This time though, they were in the void of space and the angle of approach would permit the Dammerung to engage with a relatively clear path of fire even if the projectile ended up blowing right through its targets.

"Currently there is no indication of any new bio-ship types, though that has generally been less of an issue with the Tyranid's spacefaring types than their ground ones. We cannot however discount minute variations and deviations from the established base types the Imperium has already encountered."

That was certainly true enough, the Tyranids demonstrated an astounding ability to adapt to whatever challenges they faced. When they encountered the bolter weapons of the Adeptus Astartes, they developed a composite-like armor able to absorb much of the kinetic energy from a round's detonation. After first being brushed aside by a company of Baneblades, the next time around they brought forth a massive creature able to actually crack the tank's armor with its sharp tusks. It was a neverending biological arms race and one that the Imperium was just barely winning. The lesson that everyone took from the battles however was that the most effective way to defeat a Tyranid invasion was to engage a hivefleet before it got close enough to land an invasion force. Once the fighting reached planetside, the price of victory climbed exponentially.

"At their present rate of travel they will be entering the Shadowbrink System within five weeks. Evacuations have removed approximately 30% of the planetary population, but there is a considerable force of Astartes and Imperial Guards still on the surface. They appear to be fortifying, preparing to engage the Tyranids should they make planetfall."

"Whatever for?" one of Shinji's senior fleet commanders blurted out before catching himself. "Apologies, lord admiral."

"Valid questions need no pardon," Shinji said, "and yours is a valid question, admiral. I have pressed the Astartes commander for an explanation but have thus far received only vague comments about some duty that binds them to Shadowbrink. Seeing as they are outside our chain of command I cannot issue a formal order for him to evacuate. At present the only thing we can do is win this battle and keep the Tyranids from reaching the planet."

More grim nods.

"The duty before us is clear," Shinji continued. "We will meet Leviathan in three days' time. Let all carry out his or her duty to the utmost, in the Empress' name."

"In the Empress' name."

* * *

Several hours had passed since the briefing and Shinji was finally retiring to his quarters. The battle plan he had originally formulated was updated appropriately based on the latest intelligence and one last training exercise was run based on the modifications. Now the fleet was simply performing final maintenance checks, refueling, rearming, and preparing for the biggest fight they had yet to see. As Shinji entered his rather palatial quarters he saw his wife floating in midair, legs crossed and eyes closed. Her blue hair swayed gently as she bobbed up and down ever so slightly and Shinji found himself smiling at the sight.

"Ayanami."

A pair of red eyes opened and regarded Shinji.

"Rokubungi." Rei lowered herself until she was once more on the bed. "There is a message for you."

Shinji frowned. "You were able to get past the shadow?"

A nod and now Shinji could see clearly the sheen of sweat on his wife's forehead. Rei climbed off the bed and walked over to an apparatus installed into their room. It was a neural interface designed to help a psyker transfer data that they received, filtering out noise and distilling it down to the actual content. Shinji walked over and watched his wife work. While he possessed only a slight physic talent, Rei was widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful psykers to have emerged in centuries if not millennia. That had actually complicated their getting married as many figures of authority had urged Rei to choose a partner that would allow for a higher chance of their children also attaining such levels of power. Shinji had not taken such interference, direct or indirect, well. Neither had Rei for that matter and it was more the threat of alienating her from further service to the Imperium that finally caused said authorities to back down. Shinji would have loved to break a few of those figures personally but he knew not to ask for too much and remained content with simply being able to marry his love.

A few minutes passed in silence as Rei completed the data transfer and she brought up a recorded message once done. As the imperial seal appeared at the start Shinji raised an eyebrow. Surely not, the man mused. As the seal disappeared however it was a man that appeared, albeit a man who had every right to use the imperial seal.

"Lord Admiral Rokubungi," the man said, "this is a vermillion level communique, eyes only for yourself and your designated psyker. Her Majesty is aware that your orders to defend the Shadowbrink system is a divergence from the original mobilization plan you were granted for assembling Battlefleet Dammerung and while she has every confidence that you will discharge your orders fully despite the disruption caused, she also feels that a fuller awareness of the stakes would assist in your tactical planning."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. This, this did not bode well in the least. Bad enough that the Empress had ordered her psykers to attempt to punch through the shadow of the warp just to get a direct message to him, she also had her own consort, the director of Imperial Intelligence, record the message personally. And code vermillion? The highest level of communique he had ever received in the past was magenta when he was recalled for debriefing after having engaged a Necron warship. No, this message was almost certainly going to make what was already promising to be a less than pleasant experience even worse.

"You have already been informed that Shadowbrink is garrisoned by a large force of Astartes," the recording went on. "These Astartes are of the Grey Knights chapter, charged by her Majesty in fighting the forces of Chaos where they manifest. They are on Shadowbrink because there is a daemon artifact on the planet, one which the Grey Knights have been working to seal or destroy for over a century now. They have thus far been unsuccessful."

Shinji was sorely tempted to just shut off the message instead of continuing to listen to what he was certain would be more bad news. But he was a dutiful servant of the Imperium and so he let it play on.

"The Grey Knights fear that if the Tyranids make landfall, they will stumble upon the artifact and cause it to tear a breach into the warp. Should that happen daemons would be able to enter into the materium at will. This cannot be allowed to happen, Admiral."

Well of course, Shinji thought sarcastically. He hardly needed to be told that, nor did he really need any further motivation to keep the Tyranids from getting to Shadowbrink. There was still over a hundred million civilians on the planet and combined with the biomass of the rest of the ecosystem the hive fleet would be able to gorge itself if it broke through the fleet and the planet's defenders.

"While the Empress understands that you feel duty-bound to defeat the hivefleet or perish trying, she has a new charge for you to undertake. Should it appear that you will be unable to prevent the Tyranids from taking Shadowbrink, you are to assist the Grey Knights with removing the artifact from the system."

If it could be moved then why the blazes was it not before, Shinji fumed.

"The Empress has not made this decision lightly, Admiral, as attempting to move the artifact will require lifting some of the wards currently keeping it sealed."

Of course. Shinji sighed.

"Her Majesty has every confidence that you will triumph against the Tyranids, and every conviction that you will see your duties to the fullest." The man smiled, no, smirked. "Ave Imperator, Lord Admiral."

The recording ended and Rei looked over at her husband.

"What do you intend?"

"I intend? At this point I think I intend to hand in my resignation after all this is over and retire to some out of the way planet and sit out the rest of the century in quiet obscurity."

Rei smiled ever so slightly and caressed Shinji's cheek with a hand. "You would not shy away from duty so easily."

"No," Shinji sighed, "and at this rate if I'm still alive the next decade the Empress is liable to appoint me Lord High Admiral of Segmentum Tempestus because of her 'confidence' in me. And then I really will be stuck behind a desk."

Rei gave the man a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "You will find meaning in whatever path you choose, love, and I will be there by your side."

Shinji took her hand and planted a kiss on it. "I pray it is so. But for now I intend to allow myself and my subordinates a few hours of sleep before I rend apart our carefully laid battle plans once again."

Rei wrapped one of Shinji's arms around her and walked with him towards the bed. Tomorrow they would face the bleakness of the present but tonight, their worlds would be of each other only.

End of Epilogue Delta

I sincerely hope it is evident what settings I am borrowing materials from for the last two epilogues. Cause if it's not, then uh, yeah…

In case it is not evident, the last two epilogues involve the sidesteppers reincarnated after they have crossed over to Shinji and Asuka's score. Whether they have memories of their pasts after their reincarnation is one of those details that I will keep in reserve for flexibility purposes.

There are some pretty obvious differences between the canon 40K and the version that my timeline developed into. This was, in a word, part of the collective's long term plan, the creation of a human empire that could actually endure for millennia and not end up a rotting molasses that was imploding under its own weight. One advantage of having a proper system of government and relatively stable society? Having a much bigger fleet. I don't think there was ever a single fleet that had as many battleships as what Battlefleet Dammerung is listed as having. Maybe Battlefleet Solar. Battlefleet Cadia only had twelve battleships and it was probably one of the biggest seeing as it has to guard the Cadian Gate.

Anyway, with this _In Tune_ is officially complete. I have a long list of notes for things that I would need to fix if I ever decided to do a remaster but otherwise I consider it done and I can move onto other projects. For those that would like to read a work I consider to be of a similar caliber, I would recommend checking out my story _A Cold Calculus_ set in the Code Geass universe where I try to craft a more, realistic world geopolitically and militarily. For those that want a sequel to _In Tune_, well, I could be bribed if someone immortalized this story on tvtropes with its own page. :P I kid, I kid. I have a suspicion that asking for that might constitute a violation of that site's policy. Maybe? Don't know.

Now onto the thing that I'm sure all of you really want me to get to, the list of characters. Below are all of the named characters in the story, who they are, where I got them from, and some of the basic reasoning that went into their inclusion. If I forgot anyone, let me know in the reviews and I'll put up updated lists. Otherwise it's been, fun, I suppose I could say. _In Tune_ took about eight months to complete and stands at approximately 380k words in first draft form. I don't know if that constitutes a record in terms of update speed, but if it doesn't, well, hats off to the poor sap that actually managed to get stuff out even faster.

* * *

Dramatis Personae

The Collective

Soren Reimer – Shinji Rokubungi

Chief enforcer for SEELE masquerading as a violinist, far more successfully than originally intended. Holds the formal rank of colonel to begin with and then brigadier-general within the United Nations International Project Evangelion Agency, one of three inspector-generals. Tasked with ensuring the readiness of the EVA pilots. Has an Adams embryo implanted within himself, providing him with an S2 organ and the official reason why he can project an AT-field.

Original unused story concept creation of Shinji Ikari. Son of Gendo Rokubungi and Yui Ikari, effectively disowned by his mother after the contact experiment she underwent with Unit 01 that caused her to lose all ability to feel empathy. Was recalled by Yui to pilot Unit 01. Extremely logical individual, balancing his actions constantly from a cost/benefit perspective. The only individual whom he ever came to show affection for was Rei Ayanami.

Amanda Sommer – Asuka Soryo

UN auditor-general and granddaughter of Kiel Lorenz, tasked with ensuring the success of the Instrumentality project and making sure Gendo Ikari is not able to subvert SEELE's vision. Married to Soren Reimer as a means to control the hybrid. Starts out as a simulated captain within the UN Inspectorate before being promoted to major and breveted to colonel.

Character from the original EVA prototype draft, the main character in a version where Shinji did not exist. Was supposed to have a very amicable relationship with her fellow pilot, Yui Ichijo, aka proto-Rei. In this version, Third Impact happened and Asuka and Yui are the ones responsible for the collective's creation and their ultimate goal of a sanctuary for the displaced souls across the various timelines where humanity becomes extinct.

Sidenote: Her last name was misspelled as Soryu in the original iteration of the story. Asuka Langley Soryu was a Soryu, but Asuka Soryo was specifically written as Soryo. Yes, it matters

Midori Kayabuki – Mana Kirishima

Lieutenant-Colonel of a JSSDF mechanized infantry battalion, Colonel of the 597th UN regiment. Officially recruited by Soren into the Instrumentality conspiracy when they met at university. Was responsible for ensuring NERV would have a large body of troops ready and willing to fight in its defense when SEELE moved against the Geofront in force.

Female lead of the Girlfriend of Steel game, specifically from the remake with the added ending where Mana and Shinji got together and were able to stay together in Tokyo-3.

Hitomi Hayashima – Hikari Horaki

NERV base psychologist and therapist, responsible for looking after the mental health of NERV personnel and the pilots. Also acts as a backup in case the lives of the pilots are endangered and a long-shot Terminus is required.

The manga version of Hikari, where her love Toji died as a result of the Bardiel incident. Is acutely aware that the Toji amongst the collective is not _her_ Toji.

Keitaro Aramaki – Kensuke Aida

Head of NERV Section-2, inserted to ensure that the security detail protecting the pilots would actually protect the pilots instead of acting as another mechanism to drive their isolation. Officially a SEELE pawn.

The anime version of Kensuke.

Timofey Suvorov – Toji Suzuhara

Operations chief of Tabgha base. Along with Mackenzie Iver, in charge of one of the collective's biggest 'black' assets, the _Wunder_.

Toji from the Angelic Days manga, one of the few instances where he got any sort of actual training as a pilot. Understands that the Hikari amongst the collective views him as not _her_ Toji and respects the distance she puts between them.

Madison Ingrid Metz – Mari Illustrious Makinami

Bundeswehr colonel officially on loan to the UN to serve as NERV-Berlin's operations chief. A backstop for both Mari and Asuka in case their lives were ever seriously threatened. Originally conceived of as another IPEA Inspector-General but the issue never came up.

The Rebuild version of Mari, taken from a point before the recovery of Unit 01 by WILLE.

Margaret Klinge – Misato Katsuragi

Major-General in charge of the BND, Germany's primary foreign intelligence service. Was one of SEELE's principle agents responsible for coordinating the council's various assets around the world. Used this position to facilitate the collective's plans instead.

From the Evangelion Anima series, an official alternative continuation where Third Impact did not occur after the end of the series. This Misato was placed in charge of NERV and promoted to the rank of Major-General and is forced to contend with many new threats.

Masahiro Hiraga – Makoto Hyuga

Major-General in command of the JGSDF's eastern army and UN liaison. Maneuvered into his position by SEELE as another leveler to use against the Japanese government and by the collective for the same purpose but for different reasons.

The End of Evangelion movie version of Hyuga, so one who lived through the JSSDF assault on NERV-HQ.

Mackenzie Iver – Maya Ibuki

Director of Tabgha base and responsible for construction of the Mark 06. Placed in that position by the sidesteppers so that they could use the lunar base as a place to assemble the _Wunder_.

No particularly specific version, could be from either the manga or the anime but is not from Rebuild.

Kavan Franklin – Kozo Fuyutsuki

President of the United States, a moderate Republican (yes those do exist). Maneuvered into position so that he could help organize elements of the US military into a force strong enough to intervene against the JSSDF and attack the strongholds of the SEELE members based in the Americas.

End of Evangelion version of Fuyutsuki.

Sebastian Adams – Shigeru Aoba

Major-General in command of the 101st Airborne division, tasked with making sure the division would be ready and willing to curbstomp the JSSDF when the time came.

End of Evangelion version of Aoba.

Rachel Ackermann – Ritsuko Akagi

Lead developer of the anti-AT-field weapons technology and several other pieces of technology intended to safeguard humanity's survival.

End of Evangelion version of Ritsuko.

Section-2 Detachment A – Class 2A

Section-2 agents tasked specifically to watch over and protect the EVA pilots, handpicked specifically by Aramaki for the task.

Members of the pilots' class from a variety of scores all brought together to watch over the the younger iteration.

Non-Collective Characters – EVA verse

Mayumi Yamagishi

Character from the Second Impression game. Has a good end where she survives but leaves Tokyo-3. Has a bad end where she jumps from the school's roof to commit suicide to kill the Angel she's connected to.

Maria Vincennes

EVA pilot from the White Papers RPG. Genius level intellect like Asuka and is genuinely more arrogant than the German girl.

Yui Ichijo

Secondary protagonist from the EVA prototype proposal, aka proto-Rei. Served as the linchpin for the collective throughout the story, made only indirect appearances until she intervenes to stop Soren from wasting too much power torturing Gendo.

Original EVA Characters

Madoka Katsuragi

Misato's daughter, conceived with Kaji before his death. Misato was not aware she was pregnant until after SEELE's defeat.

Autumn Ikari

Shinji and Asuka's oldest daughter, nicknamed Aki by all of their Japanese friends and family. Has red eyes and auburn shaded hair. Autumn's nickname borrowed from _The Second Try_. And also because Aki means fall, or autumn.

Soren and Amanda Ikari

Shinji and Asuka's twin son and daughter, named after the German couple. Nicknamed Sora and Emi by their Japanese friends and family.

Souji Suzuhara

Toji and Hikari's son, a classmate of Autumn's. Hikari is already plotting their eventual pairing when they're old enough.

Terazaki Kudo

JSSDF lieutenant promoted to captain in the UN, then major. Served as Kayabuki's deputy before becoming acting-CO of the regiment after her death. Has a slight crush on her. First name was inspired by the pen name Axel Terizaki, an EVA fanfic writer from the early days of the fandom who did a very, interesting, story regarding Shinji and Asuka.

Borrowed Characters

Shinn Asuka

Trident pilot candidate. Borrowed from Gundam Seed Destiny where he was supposed to be the protagonist. Poor writing there derailed any chances of him being meaningful.

Canon Hazama-Memphis

Trident pilot candidate. Borrowed from Fafner in the Azure because she was basically a child soldier there.

Mana Tatsumiya

Trident pilot candidate. Borrowed from Negima for much the same reason as Canon.

Kazuto Kirigaya

Trident pilot candidate. Borrowed from Sword Art Online because, well in his canon he also participated as a test subject for a JSDF project and, well, he seems like the kind of person who would be tempted by the opportunity to pilot a giant mech.

Asuna Kirigaya

Kazuto's wife. Borrowed from SAO. What role if any that she has beyond that will need to wait for a sequel.

Yui Kirigaya

Kazuto and Asuna's daughter and classmate of Autumn's. Borrowed from SAO, is an actual person here.

Iku Kasahara

JSSDF sergeant that transferred to the 597th regiment. Borrowed from Library Wars.

Atsushi Dojo

JSSDF lieutenant that transferred to the 597th regiment, Kasahara's ever exasperated commanding officer. Borrowed from Library Wars.

Yoko Kayabuki

Prime Minister of Japan after the fall of the government that ordered the JSSDF to attack NERV. Officially Midori's aunt, was extremely displeased with how SEEKE's machinations resulted in the death of her niece and a firm ally of WILLE. Borrowed from Ghost in the Shell.

Frederica Greenfield-Yang

Vice-president, then president of the United States of America, and finally Secretary-General of the United Nations. Borrowed from Legends of the Galactic Heroes.

Yang Wen-Li

Frederica's husband and a history professor, Kavan's drinking buddy. Borrowed from Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Katerose von Kreutzer

Bundeswehr Luftwaffe colonel. Asuka's aunt and Wilhelm's half-sister. Borrowed from Legend of the Galactic Heroes because she's a tsundere redhead. She's also voiced by Misato's VA, which is hilarious on a meta level.

Julian Mintz

German minister of justice and Katerose's husband. Borrowed from Legend of the Galactic Heroes where he also gets together with Katerose.

Fuuka Yamagishi

Runs the orphanage taking care of Mayumi. Name borrowed from the Persona 3 character.

Yukihira Restauraunt

Father/son pair that runs the family restaurant Shinji and Mayumi went to on their date and Amanda and Soren took Rei to for their talk. Borrowed from Shokugeki no Soma. Bonus character, Mayumi Kurase, working part time as a waitress.

597th Regiment

Borrowed from Warhammer 40K, the Valhallan 597th, the regiment that Commissar Ciphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, was attached to for much of his career. Cain himself makes an appearance in the form of the Cipher Cranes Kayabuki keeps turning her paperwork into.


End file.
